


Advantage

by shichan_unedited (shinchansgirl)



Category: Kyou Kara Maou!
Genre: Complete, Crossdressing, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Original Character(s), Out of Character, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-22
Updated: 2013-02-22
Packaged: 2017-12-03 05:00:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/694437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinchansgirl/pseuds/shichan_unedited
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wolfram is demanding and Yuuri is oblivious.</p><p>Reposting; originally posted to ff.net and lj.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Yuuri was happily getting ready for bed when Wolfram stormed in, angrier than the black-haired boy had seen him in…a long time, to say the least. The blue silk nightshirt he'd been reaching for was dropped back into the drawer when the door slammed closed, and Yuuri heard the deadbolt crammed into place – not that anyone else would have dared to storm into Yuuri's bedroom.

"Wolfram?" he asked, backing up a half-step. The demon prince looked _livid_ , but that could have just been Yuuri's imagination – to him, the blonde had always looked angry about something.

"I've had it!" Wolfram yelled, green eyes flashing with reflected light. He stalked forward and grabbed Yuuri's wrist so that he could drag the Maou to the bed. "I'm not waiting anymore."

"Waiting for what?" Yuuri asked, wincing at the tight grip on his wrist. He was certain he would have a bruise later. "What are you doing?"

The dark-haired boy's protests were cut short as the other boy shoved him onto the bed…and then stopped. For a moment, Wolfram almost looked scared, but that was ridiculous, because this was Wolfram.

"Yuuri," he finally said, not moving from where his hands were placed on either side of his king's hips, green eyes focused on the neck his nose was almost – but not quite – touching. "Do you hate me?"

"What? No! Geez, Wolfram, what's gotten into you? You're acting strange…well, stranger than normal, anyway." But Yuuri was trying to back up, leaning back as far as he could without falling onto the mattress.

"You don't understand custom, Yuuri, and I'm getting tired of waiting."

"Wolfram, I don't-"

The blonde slapped Yuuri's cheek lightly. It wasn't meant to harm, but it startled Yuuri badly – especially now that he knew what the action meant among demon nobles. "What-"

And then there was a pair of lips on his, pressing, demanding, and toppling Yuuri over onto the bed sheets. Wolfram kept the contact, crawling on all fours on the bed to lay claim to the man beneath him like a true wolf. The demon king's hands were fisted in the blue uniform his intended wore, neither encouraging the attack nor pushing the other away.

Eventually, the blonde pulled back on his own.

"Wolfram?" Yuuri asked – confused, almost pleaded, and more than a little dazed.

The blonde shushed him softly, watching as those black eyes focused once more on the present. "You're mine now. _I'll_ take care of the wedding plans from now on, I'll handle our marriage. You're _mine_."

Yuuri sighed. "Whatever you say." He didn't really understand, but he was tired. Wolfram was bound to get his way in the end despite any protests made – the blonde would have called him a wimp for arguing, and Yuuri didn't really see the point in fighting the blonde anymore. It was a given fact that Wolfram, with few exceptions, got what he wanted.

Besides, the smile the blonde gave seemed to be more than worth it.


	2. Chapter 2

It took a while for Yuuri to notice the changes. Some of them were small – like the way Wolfram would disappear for hours, or the way he would, instead of calling him a cheater, call the other man (or woman) shameless. Some of them were a mite bit bigger.

Like the way Wolfram's clothes now nearly overpowered Yuuri's in the shared bedroom, or the way Wolfram would always make it a point to touch him in public – a casual hand over his shoulders or around his waist. Or, the most recent development, the loss of Yuuri's sleepwear.

Now, unless he actually wanted to go bother someone at the current late hour of the night, he had two options. One, he could borrow Wolfram's new sleepwear – another change – or he could slip into the pink ruffle-y thing that was on the bed.

With a sigh, Yuuri went to go inspect the…ruffles. He was a little surprised to find a note with them, although, considering the fact that there were pink ruffles on his bed, he wondered if that was actually so surprising after all.

 _My Lord_ , he read,

_Wolfram won't be able to make it to bed until later tonight. Wear these to bed; you may not like them, but most find them, at the very least, comfortable. Wolfram would be pleased – it is part of our customs, after all. Please remember to remove your underwear, as well._

_Gunter._

Yuuri puzzled over the red spots on the paper for a moment – wondered if he should find Gunter and make sure he was all right – but it was late, and, even if it was blood, there wasn't a lot of it. He was probably just imagining it, and it was some strange demon custom or another, not actual blood.

Putting the note aside, he turned and looked at the…ruffles. Well, to be honest it wasn't _that_ ruffle-y, and it appeared to be made of some really fine material – not that Yuuri was up for touching it yet.

Yuuri blushed, made sure no one was in the room, and then ran to lock the door. That done, he closed the curtains, casting the room in near complete darkness – the only light came from a single torch on the wall. The dark-haired boy let out a sigh of relief.

And approached the bed again.

"You've got to get dressed sometime," he said, trying to reassure himself. "And Gunter did say that it was custom – like the underwear, I guess." Yuuri was still trying to get used to the black cloth that rubbed against him all day long. It was nothing like the boxers he usually wore – and, to be honest, he preferred the boxers.

"Right, the door's locked, so it's time to get to it."

Still Yuuri didn't touch the nightgown, instead undressing himself – completely, as the note indicated – first. Naked, he folded his clothes and put them on the nightstand, burying the note, and looked at the nightgown.

The chill in the air decided it for him, and he pulled the pink – silk – ruffles over his head.

It took him a few moments to sort out the sleeves and the neck-hole and front from back, but eventually he had the nightgown on, in all its proper glory.

Yuuri felt strangely like a girl as he unlocked the door and crawled into the bed.


	3. Chapter 3

Wolfram sighed as he walked into the bedroom, the sight of Yuuri lying there, curled up beneath the covers with just the smallest hints of pink visible above the covers was enough to bring a smile to his face. Now that he'd taken charge of the relationship, it was only right for Yuuri to wear the pink ruffles.

Even if Wolfram missed the loose pink silk on occasion.

Still, the blonde beauty wondered which of his two brothers he would have to thank for this. Gwendel possibly – he'd always worried that perhaps Conrad was getting a bit too close to his intended, and if that were the case, Conrad wouldn't be one to try and further their relationship.

Maybe Gunter had done it – he would have had purely scandalous thoughts, yes, but he might have told Yuuri it was custom.

Wolfram stretched, and yawned widely. After he had slapped Yuuri, effectively transferring control, he had shouldered on a lot of work, and while he was planning on having the wedding next spring – April always was such a rainy month here, but May was lovely – sometimes he wondered if maybe that wasn't soon enough. Sometimes he wondered if it were, perhaps, a bit too soon.

Yuuri was, as far as he could tell, extremely body-shy. He didn't want to see anyone else's body (which worked in Wolfram's favor) as much as he didn't want to display his own (which worked against Wolfram's goals). Hopefully, with a bit of work, the green-eyed demon prince would cure him of that strange modesty.

But that work, as all of his work had been, would need to be slow. He was hoping that they would finally he able to confirm their marriage physically on their wedding night, but he had to remember that it might not happen that way.

And he had to be open to pressing Yuuri sooner if the demon king appeared to be willing – it could be some time before he got another chance.

Of course, Wolfram had no doubt that, after the first time, Yuuri wouldn't object to a night together on occasion – if not often. Wolfram had never had a husband before, but he had, once, in his younger days, taken one of his guards in as a lover. They'd messed around for a bit, changing around positions and discovering what they did and didn't like.

Once the other demon got married, though, they stopped fooling around, and Wolfram, after some thought, decided to give up on physical adventures until he got married. There was something about it that, while it did bring physical relief, just didn't sit right.

But with Yuuri he was willing to break that promise to himself – over and over again, if necessary, to keep his intended with him.

Wolfram yawned again, unable to keep his eyes open as he gazed at his future husband. "One step at a time," he reminded himself with a smile. "I love you, you damn wimp, though I can't say it to your face yet."

Yuuri didn't move, just kept snoring on, the pink silk rising and falling with his every breath.

Wolfram undressed, and changed into some pajama bottoms.

The next thing to go, he decided, would be his night-shirts. He would press whatever advantage he could, and blame it on custom if he had to. After all, he had two brothers and a troop of guardsmen that wouldn't dare deny it.

-break.

For once, Yuuri didn't wake up nearly pushed off the bed, or with a fist in his face. Instead, he found himself being cradled between strong arms, Wolfram a constant warmth behind him…

And himself in the pink ruffle-y _thing_ from the night before.

Yuuri blushed as he realized that the nightgown had ridden up as far as his knees, and that it was falling off of one shoulder a bit scandalously as the blonde boy gripped the silk a bit too hard. He swallowed, and concentrated more on getting himself out of the bed than on the position he was in. It took a bit of maneuvering to get out of the circle of Wolfram's arms, and a bit more work to get the grip on the nightgown to loosen, but Yuuri could definitely say that he preferred being trapped there to the usual sprawl of the other boy that had nearly kicked him out of bed (or gotten him a fist in the face) more often than not.

While Wolfram slept on, the black-haired demon king dressed in the darkness, not once noticing in all his moving that the other boy was only half-dressed.

-break.

"I want to go!" Yuuri protested loudly, voice firm as he stared Conrad down. He wasn't yelling – not yet – but it was obvious he was upset. "They're children! We can't just leave them…"

"Your majesty, troops are going to be deployed this afternoon, once they gather their belongings and are ready to move out. Please trust that the children will be fine," was the brown-haired man's response.

"What's going on?" Wolfram asked the room at large as he walked in, only catching the tail end of the conversation. "Where does the wimp want to go?"

"A situation has come up on the borders," Conrad explained to his brother, ignoring the demon king's protests to being called a wimp. "A group of half-breed children are being held hostage by the local human farmers, who are demanding that something be done about the demon riders who are ruining their crops."

"I want to go settle it," Yuuri said, his voice quieter now, but still firm. "The children are half-breeds, and probably scared. The riders won't care about them, because they are half-breeds, and the humans will really kill them for the same reason. I want to go with the leaving troops."

Wolfram heaved a sigh. "Well, I guess the two of us can accompany them," he said, letting a touch of weariness creep into his voice. "Really, sometimes you are a handful, you know?"

"Huh? Wah! Gunter! Are you all right?" Yuuri asked, rushing to the side of the long-haired man, who was now sporting a rather serious nosebleed. "What's wrong?"

"I am fine, your majesty. This is nothing," Gunter said. "Oh, how I am honored by your worry – such a kind king, you are, your majesty – "

"Is this really all right?" Conrad asked his younger brother, letting his king tend to the other man. "It could be dangerous."

"It's here, isn't it?" Wolfram asked, pointing to the highlighted area on the map and waiting for Conrad's nod before continuing. "Well, besides the fact that the children are being held hostage, we also haven't searched this area for the last box yet. We might be able to find some rumors or an actual hint to its whereabouts if we go in person. Besides, it's important to Yuuri."

Conrad smiled, and nodded. "Right. It's important to his majesty."

Wolfram gave him a measuring glare, but didn't comment.


	4. Chapter 4

"I never had to wear a dress before!" Yuuri complained, fighting with the buckles that kept his "sleeves" in place. "Why now?"

Conrad gave him a soft smile. "Your Majesty, the people of the cities have become accustomed to the usual disguises we have for you. Even my brother is choosing a different outfit." The smile disappeared from his face slightly. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

"If you weren't going before, I don't want you to now. You've got work you were going to be doing here, right?" Conrad nodded at his king's question. "And that still needs to be done. Besides, Wolfram's already going with me, and the men that you were going to send out before. Now how does this wig fit again?"

The brown-haired half-human straightened the long blonde wig on his king's head, while Yuuri played with the front of his skirt, trying to make it cover more of his thighs – which were bare from a few inches above his knee to the tight leotard of the bodice.

He felt like he was wearing a girl's swimsuit, albeit one with a long skirt in back, little in front, tall high-heeled boots, and strange sleeves that were held up by buckles instead of being attached to the shirt.

"Are you sure this is normal?" he asked again, pulling on the tan cloth.

Conrad nodded, a smile on his face as he took in the king. He tied on the headpiece, and answered: "It looks better in black, but you don't want to raise too many suspicions when you go outside. Just be careful not to let your skirt lift, or someone might notice that you're…not a girl."

Yuuri blushed bright red. He _felt_ like a girl. "Just fix the wig, Conrad, before Wolfram comes in to tell us that we're late again."

"Yes, your majesty."

Yuuri found the smile he gave slightly suspicious, but didn't comment on it.

He did, however, squawk quite loudly at the pat on his rear as he walked out the door.

-break.

Wolfram huffed impatiently as he waited outside for Yuuri to finish with his disguise. All the guards were waiting, each as confused as the next as to why a newly wed couple was joining them for the trip – well, they knew the official reason, but green eyes glared at several men, who had questioned the truth behind it. Only the captain knew the whole of the situation – that the "newly-wed couple" was in fact His Majesty and His Majesty's intended, and that they weren't visiting family that could be in trouble, but accompanying them in an effort to save the children – but that didn't stop the man from grumbling about the wait alongside the men.

Of course, all grumbling stopped when Yuuri finally exited the palace. The demon king kept his hands before him as he tentatively made his way down the stairs in the belted boots he wore. The heels seemed to be giving him a bit of trouble with the heel height, and the loose, long billowing sleeves didn't do much to hide his thighs – bare from the top of the boots to the bottom of the front of the skirt, which had been cut short – but eventually Yuuri had made his way over to the blonde boy.

Gunter had probably been the one to pick out the dress, Wolfram thought, mentally chastising the man while smiling broadly, letting himself indulge in a decent look at his intended. From the top of the wig to the tips of the brown boots, Yuuri radiated innocence and pride. The dress was practically inviting others to look – one thing that Wolfram didn't like. He wanted to be the only one allowed that privilege, and, technically, he was.

"Sorry I took so long," Yuuri said as he approached, keeping his voice soft to hide the deep quality to it and ignoring the hungry look the demon prince had been giving him. Yuuri fidgeted, doing his best not to feel like the rabbit being hunted by a pack of wolves – or, in this case, a lone wolf. "I was having a bit of trouble with my hair."

It was a reasonable excuse, seeing as how the blonde mass trailed down below his hips, and was brushed to a delicate shine. The guards didn't need to know that the trouble he had had been because it was a wig, and not his own hair.

"Don't worry about it, love," Wolfram soothed, playing his part as he tucked a stray blonde strand behind Yuuri's ear. "We weren't waiting long. I'm sure these good soldiers are ready to head off, though, so we should mount."

Yuuri nodded, letting Wolfram lead him by the hand toward the horse they would ride together. When the blonde turned to face him, though, with a hand on each of Yuuri's hips, the boy in a dress gave him a confused look.

Wolfram leaned forward so that he could whisper in the other boy's ear, letting his breath ghost across the appendage. "You have to ride like a girl, wimp," he whispered. "Just hold onto my shoulders and I'll lift you up."

Yuuri nodded, doing as he was bid, blushing as he was lifted to sit across the saddle front instead of in the seat. The position left the blonde's face near his thighs, the demon prince's hands trailing over his bare – and recently shaved – upper legs.

One hand didn't leave until the prince had mounted.

Yuuri blushed deeper as one of the men wolf-whistled, and Wolfram shouted at him to cut it out.

And then they were on their way.

-break.

It wasn't a half hour later before Yuuri was squirming in the saddle, adjusting his skirts and trying to make his sore rear comfortable. There really wasn't a way to sit comfortably where he was, but at least the skirts gave him _some_ padding to sit on, if he bunched them up beneath him. Unfortunately, that left his legs even more bare then they had been before, so he was constantly trying to rearrange them, undecided if he should be more comfortable or more modest.

"Yuuri," Wolfram whispered in his ear. "Stop squirming."

"I can't help it," the black-eyed boy whined. "It's _uncomfortable_."

Wolfram glared at the other boy. "What did you expect? A carriage ride? You've ridden before."

"But not like this!" Yuuri whispered harshly. "Besides, I feel ridiculous in this dress."

"I would have chosen something a bit more modest myself – I don't like the way those others were looking at you – but you do look perfect, and that's what matters," the blonde countered.

Yuuri blushed, and one of the men surrounding them chuckled. "Quite a catch you got there, mister," the demon said. "Such a sweet thing." He winked at Yuuri, whose mouth hung open, his eyes wide with shock.

"I would appreciate it," Wolfram snapped, one arm pulling Yuuri closer to the demon prince's chest, "if you left my wife alone."

Yuuri, blushing, wrapped his arms around Wolfram's waist to keep his balance as the horse walked on, his center thrown off. "Wife?" he whispered into Wolfram's ear.

"Our cover," the other explained. "We just got married – you're my wife. We're checking up on family in the area where the uprising was."

"Oh. So, then, what's my name?"

"Yoshe," Wolfram said. "My name is Mingan – but the cover is that most call me "Wolf", and call you "Yu-chan", that way there shouldn't be too many problems if we slip up."

"I don't like this."

Wolfram didn't answer, nor did he release the black-eyed boy from his hold.

After a few moments, the steady gait of the horse lulled him into a light doze, despite the uncomfortable feel of the saddle across his rear.


	5. Chapter 5

The troop marched on for hours, and it was past dinnertime when they finally stopped for the day. The soldiers didn't seem to mind – of course they didn't; they were soldiers, and hadn't spent hours getting ready for this trip with Conrad. They didn't have to learn what shoes went with what dress as they were packed, and what to wear when riding, sleeping, or staying at an inn. Gunter had complained about the time – there hadn't been enough time to tell Yuuri _how_ to dress – but Yuuri had smiled, and said that he could figure it out with Wolfram.

No, the soldiers hadn't needed to face that humiliation. Yuuri wouldn't have wanted them to, either.

The dark-haired boy had considered asking for a rest, but the soldiers were already in a slightly sour mood because of that long wait – although they had been mollified slightly when they saw Yuuri coming down the way to the horses. Still, he didn't want to make a fuss, especially since he was supposed to be a girl at the moment, when in reality he…well, wasn't.

What Yuuri didn't realize was that the odd feeling in his legs wasn't coming from the shoes and socks he wore – which, did, admittedly, feel odd over recently-shaved legs – but was more because said legs were falling asleep. So when Wolfram helped him from the horse, the Maou all but collapsed into the blonde's arms.

A few of the guards wolf-whistled, but his green-eyed fiancé quickly shouted at them to shut their traps.

"Sorry," Yuuri managed, shifting his grip to the saddle in order to keep himself upright. "I guess I wasn't quite used to riding like that for so long – my legs fell asleep." He gave a bit of a half-laugh, a nervous smile on his face, which looked somewhat goofy beneath the wig and contacts.

To Wolfram, it through off the entire image – he liked Yuuri the way he was: dark-haired, not blonde, with black eyes instead of that strange shade of hazel-red.

And here he'd thought that the contacts were supposed to be blue.

Yuuri rubbed absently at one eye, and Wolfram realized then that it wasn't the contacts that were giving the other boy such a strange shade of color – his eyes were bloodshot from wearing the contacts so long, he wasn't used to them yet. "You wimp," the blonde scolded lightly, pulling Yuuri closer and making sure the wig was on properly as he 'pet' his 'wife's' hair. "You should have said something."

"It's not a big deal," Yuuri commented. "Is it on straight?"

"What if someone discovered you, huh? It _is_ a big deal! You just refuse to see it." The blonde stepped away, letting out a soft sigh – there were a lot of things Yuuri didn't see, either because he refused to, or he simply couldn't. Like the clueless look that crossed his face whenever Wolfram scolded someone for getting too friendly, or the way he didn't understand why anyone would want to hurt him, or Greta, or even – heaven forbid – Gwendel or Conrad. He couldn't see that being alone with strange men was dangerous – because, in Yuuri's mind, they were both boys and therefore nothing could happen.

Wolfram sighed, and led Yuuri away before the other boy could protest. "I don't think anyone will bother you over here," the blonde said, "but if they do you let me know immediately – shout, scream, kick, whatever. I'll go set up our tent."

"Our tent?"

"Yes – our tent," Wolfram repeated, a small smirk on his face and his eyes smiling with mischief. "We're married, remember?"

Yuuri gulped as the blonde walked away, and wondered just how far Wolfram was willing to – no, how far he would _demand_ that they take the marriage act.

Because there was no doubt in his mind that Wolfram would demand it, despite any protests.

-break.

Wolfram did not pitch the tent by himself. Still, doing so was a lot of work, and as he was helped by a few of the less-hostile soldiers, he, in turn helped them with their own tents.

The shirt – somewhere between a dark green and a faded grey color – clung to his chest, wet with sweat and clinging in the fading heat of the day.

Yuuri almost fainted when the blonde boy took off the shirt, which had nearly soaked through. He knew Wolfram was no light-weight, but he was sweating like a pig, and the soldiers weren't half as tense and stressed. If there were a time to realize just how pampered life within the palace walls was – this was it. Yuuri knew that Wolfram worked out more than he did, and practiced swordsmanship more, and yet it was apparent even here that the soldiers were even more highly trained than the demon prince.

But still, watching the sweat run down Wolfram's back – watching the sunset's light play across skin that was far too white to be any normal workers – seeing the strength inside that wouldn't let Wolfram stop, even when he was drenched with sweat the others hardly felt – it was…not moving, no. Not even intriguing, or motivating. It was…just… like a work of art; something you could watch for hours and not get tired of, even though it never changed. Wolfram wasn't just the pretty boy Yuuri thought he was when he met him – Wolfram was –

No. Absolutely not. Yuuri buried his face in the horse's neck, fighting the blush on his cheeks. That was a thought _girls_ had about guys – thoughts like that had no place in his head.

Wolfram was stronger than he was, and that was that – and that was where the thoughts ended. The black-haired boy felt incredibly weak in comparison – and incredibly guilty just standing there while his fiancé worked so hard – but he couldn't bring himself to comment for the simple fact that he was in a dress, and unused to it.

If he tried to help, he would totally blow their cover, and that would be it – they'd have to return to the palace, gather more guards – the children wouldn't be saved. Not by him, at least.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, but really wasn't that long – the sun was still poised over the horizon in an orange haze – Wolfram called him over.

Yuuri thought something was strange as he approached, the horse following him obediently, with only an occasional snort. Those green eyes were taking him in from head to toe, and Yuuri wished even more that he could pull the skirt down lower without drawing attention to the fact that it was so _short_ .

He hadn't seen many girls wandering around, but he didn't think that they dressed so…revealingly. An image of Cheri popped into his mind, and he revised his opinion; he didn't think _most_ of the girls here dressed so revealingly.

The blonde pulled Yuuri close and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Let's settle in for the night and get some food, shall we Yuu-chan?"

Yuuri, unsure of anything else he could do – and no way to actually discourage the affectionate cover without seeming like an unwilling wife – simply nodded and smiled. He gave a nervous look to the soldiers who had helped Wolfram, considering just retiring to their tent, but bit out a store of courage and turned to face them.

It wouldn't do to appear rude, after all.

Yuuri bowed deeply, the ends of the long blonde hair of his wig pooling on the ground as he bent low. "Thank you for helping my husband with the tent," he said, remembering to keep his voice as soft and light as he could make it.

"Ah, no need to bow, little lady," one of the men answered – a boy of average height, with the roughest brown hair – "It weren't a problem."

Yuuri stood up straight and smiled. "Well, thank you anyways."

Wolfram touched his elbow, guiding the dark-haired boy away. "Let's get some rest," he urged, giving the soldiers a silent glare. "I'm sure that you're tired after such a long ride."

Yuuri allowed himself to be led away.

-break.

The first thing Yuuri did once safely within the confines of the tent was plop himself down on the dirt floor and take off his shoes. He knew from previous adventures with the demon brothers that he would still need to wear the dress and wig, but with the shoes off he felt much better – and later he would be able to take out the contacts, as well.

Wolfram was staring at him, his cheeks red, but with a goofy little smile on his face.

"What?" Yuuri asked, itching at the top of a sock – and allowing the skirt to hitch up higher for a moment between his spread legs.

Wolfram shook his head, and helped the other boy up. The blonde no longer had an unhindered view of the Maou's panty-covered crotch, but that was all right – Yuuri hadn't even noticed anyways. "Let's eat something – you haven't had anything since we left the palace."

There wasn't much in the way of food in the packs Wolfram had brought in from their horse – there wasn't much that would fit in the two saddlebags anyways, and that was all they had access to until they reached the town, and the wagon was unloaded. The tent had been carried in the wagon, which had given the two enough room to pack several dresses for Yuuri, a few spare sets of clothes for Wolfram, and a bit of standard traveling food – jerky and bread. There was one sleeping bag, which had been rolled up on top of the overflowing saddlebags – the rest of it was, Yuuri imagined, stored away in the trunk they had brought. There was little in the way of accessories for the clothing, but enough to complete the outfits that had been packed. Yuuri was grateful that they didn't look too complicated – although looks could be deceiving.

"Why didn't we pack more food?" Yuuri asked, seeing the supplies as the blonde pulled them out.

"The soldiers carried the bulk of it – this is just to hold us over for the first night, tomorrow we'll eat with them, and the day after we'll arrive at the first and only town along the way, and stay at an inn. The rest of our clothes are in the wagon with the weapons."

"Why are there so many?"

"You're supposed to be a girl, remember? Of course you need lots of clothes," Wolfram scolded lightly – jokingly. "Don't worry – you'll get used to them."

"Oh," Yuuri's voice was surprisingly quiet as he took the provisions the blonde handed him. "Thank you for the food."

Wolfram frowned. "You don't have to sound so glum about it – I think you look fine, and if those looks were any indication, a few of those men out there thought you looked more than fine. As for the food…we can get something decent when we stay at the inn, but this will have to do for now."

"Right…" Yuuri whispered. He didn't mention the fact that it wasn't the food he was worried about.

It had just registered in his mind that there was one sleeping bag…and two of them. Not only that, but he'd have to change in here with Wolfram, who would see him dress in that pink frilly thing – if that was the nightgown sent – or something worse if Gunter had happened along the packing.

It was actually Wolfram that had drawn his attention to it, as the blonde was currently laying their bedding out across the floor. Wolfram had taken over their engagement suddenly and quite fully, and Yuuri had felt a few slight changes over the time when the other boy had slapped him.

Most notably, the fact that Wolfram suddenly did a lot more. Like this – laying out their bedding instead of demanding that Yuuri do it. It wouldn't be comfortable – they didn't have a cot, and it would be hot shoving both of them inside the roll they'd use – but it would be better than sleeping on the floor.

He hoped.

It was just a little thing, really – just the bedding for their supposed cover – but Yuuri still got the feeling that it was important somehow. Like he was missing something. Like this wasn't just an act for Wolfram – but that was ridiculous, because what boy would want to marry another boy?

Suddenly, he had to know how much of it was an act – he had to know just what was expected of him – just what would be demanded of him –

and himself without the courage to ask.

"I'll go make sure the horse has water and food," Wolfram said, oblivious to the dark-haired boy's concerns. "You stay here – and take out those contacts before your eyes get worse. Don't let anyone in but me."

"Sure thing," Yuuri said, watching the blonde go. The strange feeling – the strange _need_ \- didn't leave him though.


	6. Chapter 6

Yuuri was quick to change into the nightgown once Wolfram left. Or, at least, he was quick to TRY and change into the nightgown – he hadn't taken into account that Conrad had helped him into it, and so he was likely to need help out of it, as well.

Wolfram did his best not to laugh when he returned to find Yuuri on his rump in the tent, pouting, sleeves off, and only the decorative buckles undone, not the ones that kept the dress on.

Yuuri glared at him. "I tried all right," he said, rubbing at an eye. "This thing is complicated."

Wolfram knelt down on the ground – there wasn't any place else to sit – and motioned Yuuri closer. "I'll help you out of it," he said. "All you had to do was ask."

Pouting ever the more, Yuuri turned to present his back to the other boy, pulling the long mass of the wig over his shoulder. He tried to ignore the feeling of those fingers slipping under the cloth to undo buckles and buttons and ties – tried to ignore it as a gentle touch trailed down his spine and caused him to shiver uncontrollably for a short moment.

Tried to ignore the feeling that settled in his stomach as Wolfram's hands slid over his shoulders and down his chest to remove the dress.

Yuuri stood up quickly, letting the cloth fall around his ankles. "I'll get the – "

Wolfram's hand caught another buckle – one designed to hold up the socks. "Just a few more," he said, gently unclipping them just below the juncture where hip and leg met. Soon he was pulling first one sock then the other to the floor.

Yuuri didn't turn around – wouldn't turn around. Quickly, he slipped into the fluffy pink frills of the familiar nightgown. It might be pink silk ruffles, he thought, but it was better than standing around in nothing but a set of panties – which Gunter had provided plenty of for the trip.

"I – I'm thirsty, Wolfram. Do we have anything to drink?"

He heard the blonde sigh behind him. "Of course – I'll go get you some water. And take those contacts out. I can see how much they're irritating your eyes – you aren't doing anyone any favors by keeping them in."

Yuuri nodded – anything to get Wolfram out of the tent – and collapsed onto his knees when the blonde was finally gone. He let out a deep breath, clutching his stomach, as he willed the rocky feeling in his stomach to go away. He felt…nervous. Nervous and anxious and scared and excited and _confused_.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, not with Wolfram. Wolfram was the angry boy who slept in a pink nightgown, called him a cheater, and threw up on ships – not this…caring, protecting…subtle person.

An aggressive version of Conrad – yes, he could see how the two were related in how they acted. But Wolfram was more forceful and demanding and angry – he only seemed like Conrad when the anger wasn't directed at him.

"Yuuri?"

"Huh? Oh, thanks Wolfram. Sorry – must have been daydreaming."

Wolfram gave him an odd, considering look, but didn't comment.

-break.

_Hands like fire trailed down his bare chest, around to the small of his back and down lower, venturing places he'd never been touched before and causing his skin to tingle with nervous excitement. He didn't know what was coming, but he knew that it was important. He didn't dare open his eyes, for fear that his unseen companion would disappear._

" _I don't know what to do," he whimpered, crying out when a hand ventured too high on his bare thigh – too high, and yet, not high enough._

" _I'll show you," a calm, familiar voice whispered in his ear. "Trust me."_

_He opened his eyes to stare into fiery green. "Trust me," the other boy repeated._

"EVERYBODY UP!" Yuuri started at the shout outside the tent, sitting up sharply as he was frightened into wakefulness. "MOVE IT!"

Lifting a corner of the tent proved that it was still dark outside – not that there'd been any question of that – and Yuuri let the wall fall back down as he groaned. Wolfram rolled onto his back, covering his eyes with an arm. "If there's one thing I hate about these guys, it's how early they get up," he said.

"Agreed," Yuuri said, attempting to tub the tangles out of his hair with his bare hands.

"It'll be faster if I help you dress," Wolfram said. "Let's get moving – we don't want to miss breakfast."

Yuuri followed, trying to reorient himself to the present, and not the wonderful-dream-turned-attack-run reflex that was trying to kick in.

-break.

It wasn't an hour after sunrise and they were already back on the horses and riding towards the town that was their mid-way stop. Wolfram had chosen a simple white dress to replace yesterday's more revealing outfit – the skirt fell almost to his knees all the way around this time, the sleeves were short and, although they had a slight poof, still connected to the dress. The socks came up to just above his knees, and he had simple white slippers to complete the outfit. The square-cut top, the sleeves, the slight poof at the waist – it all added to Yuuri feeling something like a ballerina.

Albeit, a ballerina who couldn't stop blushing. Every time he looked up into Wolfram's face, he saw the hot, fiery gaze from his dream – he heard a voice asking him for a trust he hadn't thought to give.

Had thought he'd already given.

And there was still that nagging voice in the back of his head telling him that boys weren't supposed to act like this. They were supposed to fight tooth and nail when asked to get into a dress, and rocks weren't supposed to climb into their stomachs and settle there – turning to thousands of butterflies when a hand drifted too close to certain areas of anatomy.

If Wolfram wondered why Yuuri wouldn't look at him all day long, he didn't say anything.

Yuuri wasn't in the right state of mind to wonder at the way the hand gripped his waist all the more possessively as the day wore on – didn't think to question the way he just seemed to fit in Wolfram's lap, head rested lightly in the crook of his neck as he slept – didn't know to be grateful for the way the blonde kept him from falling off the side of the horse, and his wig from getting trapped in the saddle.

As he slept on, under the gentle rhythm of the horse's steps and the pressing heat of the sun, none of that really seemed to matter to the Demon King. He merely dozed in and out of a sleepy haze in a way his nerves hadn't allowed him too last night – not until that dream that had left him both hot and cold and _wanting_.


	7. Chapter 7

Yuuri was immensely relieved when the group arrived at the small town and found an inn to settle into. They'd needed to rent out nearly every room – making the innkeeper very happy – but the rooms had _doors_.

And those doors had _locks_.

Which, at the moment, wasn't doing him any good, but it would help when he went to bed later. He could feel better about taking out the contacts, wig, and dress. He wouldn't have to worry about soldiers bursting in at the wrong moment.

He could sleep better on a bed, and not on the ground.

"Here you go," he said cheerfully, placing the bowl of stew down before the soldier. He'd felt so guilty about not helping yesterday, he felt almost obligated to help today – and so here he was, serving the dinner meal to the men and earning their group a nice discount on their stay. Wolfram watching his every move made him a bit nervous, and brought a healthy pink shade to his cheeks every time he faced the blonde, but that didn't stop him from bringing the group – and the few other people who had wandered in – stew and ale.

"Miss! Refill!"

Yuuri turned to see who had called out, catching sight of the raised mug from the lone man in the corner. "Coming!" he called out lightly – hoping it was high enough – and darted back to the counter to get another glass.

He was grateful for Wolfram's choice of dress. It let him move freely while serving, and he didn't have to worry about tripping over heels. True, the flimsy shoes offered no support to his feet, so he might as well have gone barefoot, but he found it to be the lesser of two evils.

He set the fresh glass down on the table. "Here you go, sir," Yuuri smiled.

Yuuri made his way back to the counter, trying to ignore Wolfram's glare as he served food and drink.

Yuuri was just grateful that he was doing something, and not standing around looking lost.

-break.

The moment the two of them were through the door, Yuuri turned around, locked it, and took off the wig.

Wolfram looked at him in question, but Yuuri ignored him in favor of collapsing on the bed, rubbing at his eyes again.

"Did you have to do that?" the blonde finally asked.

"Do what?" Yuuri sat up, propping himself on his elbows so that he could look at Wolfram properly. The wig trailed over the side of the bed in a tangled river that the demon king had disregarded; his legs were spread in a way typical of any boy, but improper for the dress he wore; his feet dangled above the floor in mimicry of a childhood Wolfram had never known.

Wolfram tried his best to remember that, in this world, Yuuri might as well have been a child. He hadn't even been there a year. "Serve those people like…like…some common barmaid!"

The dark-haired boy shrugged, turning to lay on his belly and taking out the contacts that had bothered him – those he set aside on a small plate, and remembered to take the pitcher and drip some water over them. "I wanted to do something," he said. "I feel so useless, traveling with everyone. I couldn't even help with the tent yesterday – I can't ride a horse alone! I…I feel like I'm just extra baggage."

"Yuuri," Wolfram sighed, moving to the bed where the other boy was laying down, watching the night sky through their only window. He sat down on the edge, not bothered when Yuuri moved to give him more room. "You aren't more baggage, silly. You're our king."

Yuuri snorted. "Some king I make. I'm in a _dress_."

Wolfram made an appreciative sound – Yuuri was in dress. In a dress and not decked up with a wig and contacts – not even the layers of makeup normal women wore was smeared across his face.

The blonde put his hand on Yuuri's waist. "Yes, you are a king in a dress. And you're _beautiful_."

Yuuri was certain that there weren't supposed to be butterflies in his stomach from that statement – from that touch. He was certain that he wasn't supposed to want to be kissed by those full lips that were smirking in a way that was completely and uniquely Wolfram. He was glad he'd turned onto his stomach to take out his contacts – he _knew_ that wasn't supposed to happen from just a simple touch. "Boys aren't supposed to be beautiful," he whispered, voice slightly rough as he ducked his head.

The other gave a small half-laugh. "Who told you that lie?" he asked, standing to take off his shirt. "Anyone can be beautiful – kings or queens, or even commoners, if they're lucky." Yuuri didn't watch, but he heard the clothes rustle as Wolfram changed into his nightwear – felt the dip in the bed when he sat down, moving the wig to hang off a corner of the chair in the room. "Your world has the strangest ways of looking at things. Did you know that one of the previous Maous favored other men? He had an entire harem of young boys to suit his tastes, and often enjoyed more than one at once – and encouraged them to enjoy each other."

"Really?" Yuuri asked, blinking and turning to face the blonde – not remembering to be embarrassed about the other boy's bare chest or even the topic of discussion. "What happened to him?"

"He was a wonderful king," Wolfram continued, motioning for Yuuri to turn so he could help with the dress's ties. "He ruled during a fairly peaceful time, and was praised by many of the highest nobles. Unfortunately, he tried to add to his harem a boy who did not like one of his new laws – the boy accepted, of course, and allowed the King to partake of his body. Afterwards, while the Maou slept, the boy drove a knife through his heart. Since then, the Maou has always had only one wife – or husband – at a time, and while he or she may divorce and remarry, the use of the harem has been…"

"Forbidden."

Wolfram smiled slightly. "Close enough."

"Oh." Yuuri squirmed slightly. He was trapped between Wolfram and the wall, and he needed to change into his nightclothes, but he wasn't sure how to ask – wasn't sure how to react to such a tale. "But what about children?" he finally asked.

"There has always been a willing Mistress for the Maou – a child-bearer, not a true Mistress in the sense of the word. And, of course, adoption."

Yuuri pulled the pillow close, clutching at it as the wheels turned in his head. "It still doesn't' feel quite right," he said. "I…I'm so used to it being wrong that it really does feel wrong."

Wolfram gently dug his fingers into the dark hair, turning Yuuri's face before he leaned down to kiss lips wet from nervous licks. It was chaste, but sweet; lingering, and yet gentle. Wolfram pulled away slowly, watching Yuuri's face as if waiting for the bomb to explode.

After a few moments, the blonde asked: "Was that wrong?"

Yuuri, at first, nodded yes. But as Wolfram's face began to fall, he shook his head no. "I…I don't know," the black-haired boy admitted. "I…think I feel sick, but I want you to do it again."

Wolfram leaned down to comply, but Yuuri turned and pushed him away, backing against the wall. "No! I said I thought I might be sick!"

The blonde sighed. His hand fell from dark hair to the quivering navel of the other boy. "Here, right?" he asked. "A million buzzing bees that just won't stop? That pound against your sides like horses?" He gave a soft smile. "That's nerves. And that's normal." Wolfram stood up, and pulled on his jacket, not bothering to button it up. "I'll go and get you some brandy. It should settle you enough for sleep. Go ahead and change – you should be able to get out of that well enough."

The blonde unlocked the door, slipped out, and closed it tight behind him.

Yuuri was left fidgeting on the bed, uncertain what to do about the feeling of fire on his lips that turned to hard rock in his stomach and melted to red hot lava somewhere further down.

He wasn't so certain that brandy would settle it, but he was more than willing to try anything.


	8. Chapter 8

Wolfram had been silent when he'd returned the night before, offering Yuuri time to think over the happenings and allow his fears to settle.

There really wasn't anything to fear; Wolfram knew what he was doing. Yuuri didn't know that, however.

Wolfram had, once again, chosen a simple dress for Yuuri to wear – one that was simple enough to slip into that Yuuri could do it alone. It reminded him of the uniforms of his female classmates, although it was a one-piece dress instead of a top and skirt. Most of it was a light purple, with a white underskirt, white cuffs on the long sleeves, and a white collar, all trimmed in pink. He took a bandanna of the same pink color and tied it around his head – feeling slightly like a cleaning lady for some big mansion, but unwilling to risk the wig slipping off from not being secured properly.

There was a knock on the door, and Yuuri went to open it, barefoot but still dressed. "Can I help you?" he asked, opening the door only a small crack when he saw that it wasn't Wolfram.

"Yeah – I'm lookin' for tha' husband of yours."

Yuuri furrowed his brow in confusion. "Wolf? Isn't he downstairs?"

"'Course he is – but I don't think a pretty li'l lady – "

"What are you doing?" Wolfram's voice came from down the hall. He glared at the stocky man, his stance screaming 'angry' as the man tilted away from the door – and almost fell over.

Wolfram relaxed slightly and walked up to him. "You're drunk, aren't you?"

"I ain't drunk yet – just had a bit of drink with my brea'fast, that's all."

"Right. So you decided to check up on my wife?"

"Pretty little ladies shouldn't be lef' alone, if ya know what I mean. There's them soldiers down there, and ya don't want them messin' with her, now, do ya?"

Yuuri couldn't hold it in anymore – he laughed. He managed to stifle it to a slight giggle, but the sound escaped none-the-less.

"This really isn't funny," Wolfram sighed.

"Wolf – he was just trying to help. Besides, you can't think everyone is out to get me – why don't you help him back to his room, and I'll run downstairs and get some ice for him – just let me get my shoes." Yuuri disappeared back into the room.

"Oi, you gonna let her downstairs alone with them soldier-types down there?" the man demanded, leaning against the wall again.

"Those 'soldier-types' are with us; they're taking us with them on their way to Taruga. She'll be perfectly all right. Let's get you back to your room, all right?"

The man shook his head, but accepted the help when Wolfram slipped under his arm to help keep him steady on his feet. "Such a shame, she's a sweet lookin' thing. Like me niece – you know she's got a spot in the market, now? Selling flowers or somethin' of the sort. Husband don't make enough fer the young ones."

Wolfram grit his teeth and hoped that it would be over soon – not only did they need to leave, but the man's breath smelled heavily of alcohol. They'd been lucky he wasn't one to get violent when he was sloshed.

-break.

"Heard you had a mishap this morning?" It was one of the soldiers from the group, riding up alongside Wolfram and Yuuri's horse. The commander glared at him, but didn't say anything.

Yuuri brought up his hands as if fending the idea off, waving them nervously. "It wasn't a mishap! Hardly any trouble at all! Someone was still drunk this morning, and thought I was his niece in need of protecting from the big, bad soldiers." He let a nervous chuckle escape, and hoped it sounded close enough to a giggle to pass. "Wolf told him you wouldn't hurt me, though. You wouldn't, right?"

"Of course not, missy! We're here to protect! 'Course, we've got to protect everyone, including these half-blood misfits that got themselves kidnapped. It's a hard job, but someone's got to do it!"

Yuuri frowned. "But…you can't blame the kids for that," he protested. "It's not their fault – you can't choose your parents, and not everyone is able to protect themselves from danger."

"I s'pose you've got a point there – heaven knows, I wouldn't have chosen my dad, if given the chance. Only time he turns nice is for mother – and she's been gone for years now."

"I'm sorry," Yuuri whispered, ducking his head.

The soldier laughed it off. "Nothing much too it miss – she was sick, not murdered. What about you're family? I hear that's where you're off to, once we get to the end of this."

"Is that really any of your business?" Wolfram asked, voice cold.

"Wolf!" Yuuri scolded. "He was just trying to be nice. It's so boring, traveling…"

Wolfram pulled Yuuri close to kiss the other boy's forehead. "I'm sorry – I worry."

The soldier left.

"This acting like a girl thing is getting really tiring," Yuuri whispered, leaning against Wolfram. "I never know if I'm pulling it off right, or if I just sound like a simpering idiot."

"I'd like it better if you could act like a girl without flirting with every guy who tries to talk to you."

"I wasn't flirting!" Yuuri protested, cheeks turning red at the accusation, but remembering to keep his voice low. "Besides, we're both guys!"

"How many times must I tell you that it doesn't matter in this world if we're both guys or not?" Wolfram sighed. "It's perfectly acceptable."

Yuuri frowned. "Then how come I never see two guys together, huh? If it's so acceptable, where are they?"

Wolfram's eyebrow twitched.

"See!" Yuuri said, poking Wolfram in the chest with a finger as if he had proved something large and exciting. "You can't even name one couple like that, except that big story you came up with last night – and I don't even know if it was true or not. Besides, it's not even possible for two guys to do things like that!"

Wolfram smirked, and leaned down to whisper in his Maou's ear: "Of course it is, you just have to know where to put things. I can show you tonight, if you'd like. Just the two of us, in our tent under the stars – in bed together. I can show you exactly what is you are declaring impossible – and just how possible it is."

Yuuri gulped, and blushed. "I-I'm not s-so sure I want t-to know," he stammered, fists clenching – one in horsehair, the other in the cloth of his dress.

"Your loss. You will find out eventually, though. You are my fiancé, and you are _mine_. I won't push, but these men will expect a certain level of intimacy from us."

Yuuri nodded, the red not leaving his face. "I understand. But…I don't know that I like it."

"You wimp," Wolfram scolded affectionately. He kissed the top of Yuuri's head once more, and nothing else was said on the subject.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somewhat Mature content contained in this chapter.

"Wolf, what are you doing?" Yuuri hissed, squirming in the blonde's grip as wet kisses were placed on his bare neck.

"Our cover," Wolfram answered, his face buried in Yuuri's wig so that the others couldn't read his lips – if they even could – and keeping his voice too soft to be overheard.

Yuuri squirmed again, and said, a bit louder: "They're _watching_ us!"

Someone snickered, and Yuuri blushed lightly.

Wolfram bit his ear, tugging slightly. "Relax," he said, breathing into the lobe. "They'll lose interest soon enough."

Yuuri shifted, nervous, unable to deny that yes, Wolfram was actually getting a reaction from the dark-haired boy. One of Wolfram's hands rose from a hip to across Yuuri's chest, the fingers stopping at the bottom edge of the fake breast. "Can't we wait?" he asked, voice quiet. "Or at least go into the tent? They're still _watching_!"

Wolfram nodded, pulling Yuuri along. "Into the tent then."

The light was out in the tent, so that anyone outside couldn't see their silhouette. It made things difficult, but that was the least of Yuuri's worries – as soon as the flap was closed and secured, he flew from Wolfram's arms and towards the saddlebags, where he collapsed on the ground and pulled his legs up to his chest. "Did you have to do that?" he hissed, keeping his voice quiet.

"What do you mean?"

"That!" Yuuri said as sharply as he could. "You _know_ we can't let them find out we're both guys – and you know what I think about it!"

Wolfram smirked, though Yuuri couldn't see it in the dark. "Are you saying there was a chance they could find out from that display?"

Yuuri sputtered for a moment. "So what if there was?" he asked stubbornly. "That's not the point! I…I can't…"

Wolfram knelt down before Yuuri. "It's probably a good thing that it's late, and dark, because you're not going to like what I'm going to tell you. I want you to listen to me, though, and I want you not to yell at me or protest or argue with me until I finish, and you've had some time to give this some thought, all right?"

"Fine," Yuuri said, pouting.

"First, let's get changed – you can wear some of my nightclothes for tonight. I don't think you'll feel up to dresses after this."

Now curious, Yuuri had no choice but to change – he had promised not to protest or argue after all. Well, unless Wolfram asked for _too_ much, then he might break his own rule.

Once they were both changed – which took some time, and some bumping and fumbling around in the dark – they both sat down facing each other on the bedroll. "What did you want to say?" Yuuri asked, still slightly giving off an air of "not happy."

"I need to tell you about how it works between two guys – because you're obviously afraid of it, or disturbed about it, or _something_ , and if I don't change that soon, we'll both be unhappy."

"You don't have to –"

"Yes, Yuuri, I do. You're the Maou; you should know what we have committed ourselves to.

"First, a question: do you know how it works with girls?"

Yuuri blushed, nodding even if Wolfram couldn't see it. "Yeah – you've got to…to…stick _that_ in _there_ …except you've got to make sure it's the right _there_ …and you need to wait until she's _wet_ , whatever that means, or it'll hurt…and, if you don't want kids, you need to, well, not be in _there_ when you finish."

Wolfram blinked. "That's a rather…roundabout way of saying it. Well, with guys it's going to be similar – one guy is going to be the 'girl' and the other the 'guy'…except with this 'girl' you don't have to worry about the wrong 'there' – there's only one place down low for it to go."

"You…you mean…"

"Yes," Wolfram said, realizing that nodding wasn't going to work in the dark. "But, since neither of us is really a girl, we'll have to use our own 'wet' – usually some sort of oil or cream – and that place is tighter on us than on girls – it needs to be stretched first, or it hurts."

"Wolf, I don't think I can…I don't think I could let anyone do that. It's…it's…how can that feel _good_?"

"There's a place inside you, deep inside you, that can be reached from your entrance. It feels wonderful when stimulated – and yes, being hit will make it react. The only trouble might be finding it."

Yuuri was huddling in on himself, face buried in his knees. "I can't do that – I can't _let_ someone do that. We're…it's…"

"Just think about it," Wolfram soothed, placing one hand on Yuuri's knee – encouraged when the dark-haired boy didn't shy from his touch. "Not in that strange way of yours, but how it might feel. How good it might be. I…Yuuri, I promise, after the first time, if you don't like it, we never have to do it again…but please, give me a chance?"

"I…I need to sleep," Yuuri said suddenly. "It's late. And…I don't know if I could sleep soundly if I thought about…that…any more. I just…I can't. I can't think about it right now."

"I understand," Wolfram sighed. "Here – hand me a blanket. I sleep on the other side of the tent tonight."

"No-" Yuuri started to protest, biting his lip. "Just…stay on your side of the bed tonight?" Yuuri asked. "I might…freak out a bit…otherwise."

Wolfram understood what Yuuri wasn't saying; 'please don't molest me tonight – don't even touch me.' It hurt, but he understood. "We have to put up the act again tomorrow," Wolfram reminded him. "Don't forget that. I think, after our earlier display, no one would be overly suspicious if you were quiet and nervous – just so long as you don't look sullen and regretful, or angry. I know it's hard, Yuuri, but we've got to at least make it to the town without incident. On one horse, the two of us can make it back to the castle in two days, hard riding, if we go without stopping. You wouldn't have to do a thing – but we need to make it to the town if we're to save those kids."

Yuuri nodded.

"Yuuri," Wolfram said, voice suddenly harsh, "you _need_ to make this work – your protection comes first to me; easily over the children. The minute our cover is blown, I turn us around and start running back to the palace – no matter where we are."

The dark head nodded once more. "I understand," he said. He didn't like it, but he had long since learned to accept that particular quirk as uniquely Wolfram – a reminder of who the blonde had been before this whole strange mess.

To Wolfram, Yuuri would always, always come first. And in this slew of confusing, strange, disturbing thoughts, he needed something normal. He would not argue against it when it was given to him.

-break.

Yuuri had not wanted to get up the next morning. He was in bed, safe from flying fists, molestation, and wildly kicking feet, wearing _pants_ , and the warming day and nosy sun just seemed too annoying to go out and face.

But face it he must, and he eventually got out of bed and got dressed – in another dress. The last dress he had that was clean. He'd have to start wearing one of the other two again, since he didn't want to try and put on the first one alone – didn't think he _could_ – and hope that they weren't too badly wrinkled or sweaty.

As it neared midday, though, he realized he wouldn't have to worry about it – they could see the town in the distance, and were passing by fields and crops – some of which looked like a large animal had gone running through it, destroying all the plants it could.

Yuuri shuddered.

"Something wrong?" Wolfram asked.

Yuuri shook his head, not taking his eyes off the fields. Some of those were _burned_ – and with all the soldiers that were coming into town… "Wolfr-" he stopped himself before giving away the blonde's full name, bit his lip, and then carried on as if he hadn't made a mistake. "How…how are these people supposed to have enough to _eat_ after this?"

The blonde looked wearily at the fields. "There should be enough to make it through the winter, if they aren't wasteful here," he said. "And assuming that they have a few people that are willing and able to hunt. Some of it would have been used for trading; they can't do that now. There should be other trades though – weaving, perhaps. It's common enough here."

"Can't we do something?"

"That's why we're here, remember?" the blonde smiled.

Yuuri was decidedly less cheerful as the group entered the village and found an inn. Partly due to the fact that there was nothing he could do _now_ , and partly due to the fact that tonight they would be revealing to the soldiers who he really was – because there was no way they could continue with the soldiers without doing so. Conrad had warned him to stay in disguise afterwards though, no matter who seemed to know his secret, because there was no telling what dangers might lurk if they weren't careful.

It was bad enough acting like a girl when everyone thought he was one – when they learned that he was a guy playing at being a girl, certainly they would laugh at him.

Wolfram's hand soothed back his hair and soft lips kissed Yuuri's forehead. "Don't worry about it," the prince whispered.

Yuuri nodded, but he had gone tense and stiff at the reminder of _that_ , his other problem. He was, like it or not, engaged to Wolfram. Despite all his protests, he had not called it off, and to do so now, when Wolfram was in charge, would probably be an even greater slight to the prince's honor – not to mention Yuuri's own. It had been a misunderstanding, yes…but he had let it go on too long now, he had to try and deal with it.

It wasn't something he _wanted_ to deal with though. It was something he wanted to fade into the background, forgotten, because two boys shouldn't be together, even if Wolfram said they could.

He blushed slightly as he thought of the mechanics. Just how did it _fit_? He had never really thought about it with a girl, either, but there must have been a…larger hole or something on a girl. Or something. Yeah. So it couldn't work for guys, because it wasn't big enough.

But Wolfram had mentioned stretching…

Yuuri swayed slightly on the saddle, his face red and his head slightly dizzy.

"Yuu-chan, are you all right?" Wolfram asked, holding him steady.

Wolfram – the boy who had asked for the chance to be _inside_ him, to see if he liked it…

It sounded like the waves were crashing _on_ his ears, water rushing through his head as the thoughts made his mind spin in dizzying circles.

Wolfram – the boy who had promised never to do things like _that_ again if he didn't like it, but asked that he at least try it.

He gulped, the crashing sound fading from his ears enough for him to register that Wolfram was asking him what was wrong.

Yuuri shook his head slightly. "Fine," he answered. "Just hot."

And he didn't mean it like that, he really didn't, but his lower regions thought differently as they warmed in agreement. He swallowed again. "Thirsty."

Wolfram immediately stopped his horse and helped Yuuri to take a few sips from their canteen.

The thought registered after Yuuri had taken enough to quell the dryness in his mouth. Their canteen. Wolfram had drunk from it, as had Yuuri, several times. They were, in effect, indirectly kissing every time they used it.

It really wasn't so bad. He wasn't worried that he was going to get sick drinking from it, and Wolfram had too. The thought of kissing that way didn't bother him in the least when it was with another guy.

Yuuri turned his head and pressed his lips to Wolfram's, getting a startled, surprised response almost immediately. It was chaste and short, but…it was like drinking from the canteen. It hadn't made him sick to his stomach, and, while the sensation had been odd, it wasn't any _different_ from what he'd expected to have done with a girl. "Thank you," he whispered, looking away and handing the canteen back.

Wolfram smiled, urging the horse to start walking again and catch up with the group as he retied the canteen. He didn't say anything – he didn't need to.

Yuuri licked his lips nervously, and decided that kissing was ok – he could deal with kissing. The rest…he would deal with as it came.


	10. Chapter 10

“Absolutely not!” Yuuri heard Wolfram shout as he entered the inn, having just finished putting the horse away in the attached stables. “I don’t need to give a reason, the answer is no!”  
  
“If it’s about the company – “  
  
“ _Yes_ , it’s about the company! You want my wife to go out there and serve ale to commoners who don’t know her and who aren’t going to care about the fact that she is already in a loving, caring relationship?”  
  
Yuuri heard someone cough.  
  
“Don’t you _dare_ laugh at me, or I’ll make sure that the Prince Weller hears of it!”  
  
“How is it that you are on such familiar terms with the prince, anyways?” That was the new voice – the innkeeper.  
  
“That’s really none of your business, is it, _you complete_ – “  
  
“Wolf?” Yuuri asked, knocking on the doorframe to the private dining room and interrupting what he was sure to be another of Wolfram’s temper tantrums. He walked in smiling, as if hadn’t just heard them arguing, and felt the commander of the troops, Wolfram, and the innkeeper watching him as he closed the door behind him. “I put Candice in her stall,” he said, smiling slightly at the triple looks he was getting.  
  
Wolfram grabbed his wrist and pulled the boy in a dress closer, wrapping his arms around his ‘wife.’ “Thank you. You didn’t have any trouble, did you?”  
  
Yuuri shook his head. “The soldier we were talking to earlier – he stayed with me to make sure I was all right. He’s really nice.”  
  
Wolfram’s arms tightened slightly. “I see.”  
  
“Besides, I think I should be asking _you_ if something’s wrong – I heard you shouting. There’s nothing wrong, is there?” Yuuri asked, glaring slightly.  
  
“Nothing you should concern yourself over.”  
  
“Wolf! Please,” Yuuri pleaded, keeping an eye on their two observers as he tried to consider his words. “If something’s wrong, I want to help. Everyone’s being so nice to us, letting us stay with them for a while longer. I’d like to repay them the favor, if we can.”  
  
“It’s nothin’ much to be getting’ upset over, Miss,” the innkeeper said. “I just thought it might be better for you folk if’n you served tables and earned yerselves a discount. See, the thing is, we weren’t expectin’ so many people, and I’m short on staff at the momen’. It’s perfectly safe ta work here, and if’n you don’t want to, just say so – no harm done. We’re just being a bit understaff.”  
  
“I’d be glad to help!”  
  
Wolfram made to protest, but Yuuri predicted the move, glaring at the prince before he’d gotten further than opening his mouth. The blonde bit his lip, his eyes pleading even as he whispered out the cover name “Yuu-chan.”  
  
“Don’t worry so much,” Yuuri scolded, smiling and leaning back into Wolfram’s chest. “I’m sure you’ll be right there the whole time, watching me and keeping me safe.”  
  
“You’d better believe it,” Wolfram muttered, pouting slightly. He didn’t _want_ Yuuri to serve tables again. It was a job for common barmaids and easy girls who would lift their skirts for a few drinks. It wasn’t something the maou should be doing.  
  
The innkeeper bowed deeply, thankfully. “Thank you so much. If you wait here a moment, I’ll bring you out a uniform to change into.” He scurried out the door quickly, followed by the scowling commander.  
  
A few moments passed, and Yuuri shifted in place. “Umm…you know, you can let go now.”  
  
Wolfram shook his head, his nose in Yuuri’s wig. “I don’t want to. You little tramp.”  
  
“Hey!” Yuuri protested. “I’m not a tramp! I think I’d rather be called a wimp!”  
  
Finally, the demon prince pulled away – didn’t let go, but pulled away. “Then you’ll just have to prove otherwise, won’t you?” he asked. “I’ve claimed you as my engaged – whether you are a wimp, a tramp, a king, or simply a silly little boy. I _like_ you, Yuuri. More than like.”  
  
“Wolfram…” it was a whine and a plea, and the prince willingly backed off the touchy subject with a smirk on his face, but still refused to let go.  
  
Yuuri sighed, crossing his arms over the set already around him. Sometimes being a girl – even if it was only an act – was more annoying than it was worth.  
  
Wolfram kissed his cheek, rubbing his arms in a way that was meant to be soothing – to Yuuri it felt more like his brother’s rough-housing mixed with his mother’s odd affections. At the same time masculine and feminine – a mix of the two he wasn’t overly comfortable with, and not certain he was fond of.  
  
“Don’t leave me,” Wolfram whispered.  
  
But it was a whisper, and Yuuri barely heard it – as it was, he acted as if he hadn’t. He wasn’t entirely certain how to respond.  
  
  
\-------------------------------------------break.  
  
It didn’t take Yuuri long to realize why Wolfram had been so reluctant to let him serve here. When the first grope to his bottom came, Yuuri dropped the plate he had been holding, his face pale, eyes wide with shock, and very nearly screamed.  
  
The room had gone silent.  
  
It was a miracle that Wolfram didn’t kill the poor soul – but the man was sent back to his wife with several more scrapes and bruises than he had before he arrived.  
  
Yuuri had apologized profusely for the spilled food, too upset to allow the blame to be shifted elsewhere. After making certain that the innkeeper had been more than compensated for the loss, he’d dashed upstairs to the room he was to share with Wolfram and locked the door.  
  
Which was what said blonde was now pounding against, trying to gain entrance. “Let me in, you wimp!” he demanded in a harsh whisper. “You can’t expect to do any good locked in your room! Or did you want me to take you back to the palace?”  
  
There wasn’t an answer, but there were definite sounds of movement.  
  
“Yuuri, unlock this door _right now_!”  
  
Nothing.  
  
“Please…Yuuri, you’re scaring me. Open the damn door. I don’t want to have to burn it down, but I will. Come on – it’s just me out here, I promise.”  
  
He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the lock slide out of place, and the blonde prince slipped inside the room and relocked the door behind him.  
  
Yuuri was sitting on the bed, dressed in one of the outfits Wolfram had already worn – a pant and shirt set that fit Yuuri almost perfectly, only a few scant centimeters long in the arms and shoulders, the pants curling around his heels slightly with a length that would be picked up by a pair of boots.  
  
Dark eyes darted towards him for a moment, making certain it was the blonde who had come in, before gazing back at the wall.  
  
Wolfram sat down on the edge of the bed, next to him. “Are you all right?”  
  
Yuuri shrugged.  
  
Wolfram scowled. “Look, I can’t help you if I don’t know what to do! It’s bad enough that you have to put on that ridiculous wig and trail around like some meek little housewife – I’m tired of saying it, but I’m _sick_ of waiting for you! You _never_ do what needs to be done!”  
  
Yuuri started, backing away slightly. “Wolfram?”  
  
Wolfram held back the urge to slap Yuuri again – this time something a bit harder than the gentle mark of before – and used that hand to shove the dark-haired boy back against the bed, crawling overtop of him in a mirror of that first night he had declared his lack of patience.  
  
“Wolf…what are you – “ He yelped as a hand disappeared between the sheets and his rear, Wolfram’s other hand holding his shoulder down against the bed. Shaking hands clasped at Wolfram’s shirt, pulling at the fabric of the sleeves, and dark eyes pressed tightly shut.  
  
There was a flicker of something in those green eyes as Wolfram stopped, his hand cupping clothed skin – not holding, not moving, just there – and waited for Yuuri to realize he wasn’t going to be hurt. It might have been pity, or sympathy. It may have been sadness.  
  
Yuuri opened his eyes, and slowly – ever so slowly – his grip loosened.  
  
“You see, you wimp,” Wolfram half laughed, half choked out. “You’re not going to die if someone touches you there.”  
  
Yuuri shuddered.  
  
“That doesn’t mean I want anyone other than myself doing it, of course. That man was out of line.”  
  
Yuuri bit his lip. “Can we just get it over with?” he asked.  
  
Wolfram blinked, pulling back so that he could sit more comfortably. “What do you mean?”  
  
“The…the… _you know_ ,” he said. “ _That_. Can we just do it, and get it over with? I hate all this…other stuff.”  
  
A smirk flickered up to the prince’s face. “You mean you hate being nervous about it,” he corrected. “But I don’t want you to have sex with me just to _do it_ ; I want us to do it because we want to. And Yuuri,” he added, after a pause, “would you honestly ride all the way back to Blood Pledge with me if we did do it, and you didn’t like it? We face the soldiers tonight – could you do that after?”  
  
Yuuri bit his lip. “Later tonight, then?” he asked. “I…I don’t really _want_ to, but…you’re tired of waiting, and I’m tired of all of it. If I can’t actually do it, then there is a reason to break off the engagement without you getting hurt by it. You’ll be…free of waiting.”  
  
Wolfram frowned. “You are such a wimp,” he sighed. “Fine – if that’s what you want. But soldiers and a meal first – and if you don’t eat we won’t do anything. We’ll get no where if you’re nervous.” The blonde grabbed Yuuri’s hands and pulled him up into a sitting position. “Let’s get you back in the dress.”  
  
The black-haired boy shuddered. “Couldn’t I just wear your clothes?” he asked. “I really don’t want to go back down there in…that.”  
  
“You still need the wig and the contacts,” Wolfram said. “And I think there might be a cloak in one of the bags…”  
  
The demon king let out a breath of relief – he really was growing tired of the dresses. It wasn’t that they were bad, exactly, they just felt…revealing.  
  
And wearing a swishy skirt instead of pants really took some getting used to.  
  
\---------------------------------------break.  
  
As much as they may have wanted to, the soldiers did not get drunk that night – they did, after all, have a job to do.  
  
And a few hours after sunset, they all gathered in the dining room to report. A few gave Wolfram and his cloaked companion suspicious looks, but none commented on it.  
  
“We found signs of the kids a few hundred meters into the forest,” a brown-haired guard said, standing straight at his place around the table. “We weren’t able to actually see them, but there was an old cottage – most likely an old Alpha cottage – with two guards armed visibly with short swords and what sounded like children’s voices within.”  
  
Wolfram leaned close to his companion, whispering: “Alphas were the first line of defense about 1000 years ago – they lived outside the village and protected it from danger; the first line of defense.”  
  
“Very good, boys – it looks like this job is going to be fairly simple. Since we know where the children are, we can pull them out if anything happens. Until then, I want all of you to keep a lookout for anyone who acts strangely or says something about it – we’ll need to be able to round up all the attackers before we attempt to go after the children, or they might try using the kids against us,” the commander said. “And we also have someone…unexpected to protect.”  
  
Wolfram stood up, pulling the figure beside him to stand as well. “We are sorry for the inconvenience, but it is necessary to keep as few aware of our presence as possible.”  
  
Yuuri slipped the hood back from his head, showing off his blonde wig and contact-colored eyes. First, he took out the irritating eye pieces, and then he slid the wig off and placed it over the back of the chair.  
  
“May I introduce,” Wolfram continued, “my fiancé, Yuuri Shibuya – the Maou.”  
  
The commander nodded. “I will vouch for his identity, and that of Prince Wolfram. It is our job to see that they are protected while this operation is underway.”  
  
“Sir, might I ask why the Maou has honored us with his presense?” one of the guards asked.  
  
Yuuri laughed nervously. “Well, I just wanted to make sure the kids were okay, you know? I didn’t want then getting hurt, and I already feel that it’s somewhat my fault for not seeing that things were troubled before…” he wrung his hands, unable to hide his unease. “But what I _really_ want to ask is if you’re mad at me for not saying anything. I realize it’s kinda sudden to be finding out and all, but Conrad insisted on disguises…”  
  
There was a moment of silence before the soldiers laughed. Yuuri went red for a moment – that is, until he realized that they weren’t really laughing _at_ him. One of the soldiers was even laughing at another for not picking up on Yuuri’s ‘maleness’ and trying to hit on him.  
  
Relief flooded through the demon king – and things seemed like they might just be turning out all right. Yuuri smiled. He wasn’t really even needed here – the men knew what they were doing, and were going about their duties like a well-oiled machine. It wasn’t as bad as he had expected.  
  
Wolfram, however, wasn’t taking the time to be relieved with the general acceptance of the Maou – he was looking for the _non_ -accepting looks. There weren’t many. Several looked mildly put-out that they hadn’t been told; a few less looked concerned that the mission might be more than they had expected. Most looked generally all right with it, although a little stiff at his presence – obviously this time was meant for relaxing in their schedule, but they weren’t going about it as usual, unsure of the new presence.  
  
But there was always one – that one that didn’t accept things. That hated the change. Wolfram searched faces for him.  
  
And didn’t find him.  
  
He wasn’t sure if he should be reassured by this, or more worried. He bit his lip.  
  
Maybe he should take advantage of that locked door, and show Yuuri just why he had kept that male lover for as long as he did. He wasn’t sure if he’d get another chance anytime soon.  



	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mature content contained in this chapter.

Yuuri smiled brightly when they got back to the room, taking off the cloak and wig as the door slid shut. “That went well!” he said happily.  
  
Wolfram didn’t say anything – it _had_ seemed to go well, but the blond prince still had his doubts. It seemed like there should have been _someone_ to protest…unless the ones who would already knew? But that was impossible – then the entire unit was likely to know, and there was genuine surprise in some faces –   
  
“Wolfram? What are you thinking about?” Yuuri asked, interrupting his thoughts.  
  
The prince gave him a gentle smile, hoping that it was reassuring. Yuuri didn’t need any more worries if they really were going to proceed with things tonight. “Nothing you should worry about,” he said.  
  
“Oh.” Yuuri blushed, and fiddled awkwardly with the wig in his hands, finally setting it on a corner of the chair. “Oh…” he said again, not looking at the blonde.  
  
It took a moment for Wolfram to realize what conclusion Yuuri had come to, and he wanted to yell at the other boy that he wasn’t _that_ perverted – but he held his tongue. Yelling at Yuuri had never solved anything. It hadn’t stopped him from being a wimp, it hadn’t stopped him from flirting with girls, and it never stopped him from being nervous. This _wasn’t_ the time to yell.  
  
His voice still had a slight strain to it when he said: “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”  
  
Yuuri frowned. “I thought you wanted to.”  
  
“I do,” Wolfram answered honestly. “But that doesn’t mean that you do.”  
  
“Let’s just _do it_ ,” Yuuri said. “I don’t want to argue about it.”  
  
“All right,” Wolfram conceded, turning and locking the door behind him – Yuuri had done as he had asked, telling the soldiers beforehand and eating a decent meal. And now it was time to show him how two men _really_ acted when they slept together.  
  
When he turned around and saw Yuuri’s hands shaking as he tried to undo the ties of the tunic, knotting the string up worse, he smiled for a moment, simply watching. Yuuri was _cute_ when he was nervous, even if it wasn’t really what was needed. He also decided that, for their first time together, they wouldn’t do _everything_. Yuuri obviously wasn’t ready for that yet – as always, Yuuri needed to be led gently. It wasn’t something Wolfram was generally good at, but he would do his best.  
  
He moved and knelt down before Yuuri – before his _king_ – and reached for the ties, pulling Yuuri’s hands away. “Let me,” he said, already undoing the mess the dark-haired boy had created.  
  
Yuuri’s hands fiddled with the sheets instead, until Wolfram needed to lift the shirt over his head.  
  
Next, Wolfram removed the socks Yuuri wore, since he’d gone without shoes for the evening – hadn’t had anything suitable, really. “Lay back,” the blonde said, “and lift your hips.” As Yuuri obeyed, Wolfram removed the pants and underwear the other wore, tossing them to the growing pile. For a moment, he just watched the other boy – that is, until Yuuri started squirming, eyes shifting everywhere but at Wolfram, his face bright red with embarrassment.  
  
Really, the demon king had nothing to be embarrassed about. At least, not in Wolfram’s opinion.  
  
Still, the blond stood and began to remove his clothes, revealing himself to his engaged – making them even. It wouldn’t be fair to Yuuri if he didn’t swallow his own nervous feelings – his own fear of failing – and do what he wanted – no, _needed_ to do. There was a difference in their nervousness though; while Yuuri was nervous abut what Wolfram would do to him, Wolfram was nervous about the outcome. It was a change that made all the difference, Wolfram noted as he took off his pants, heat already beginning to pool in his groin. He _wanted_ this – by the gods, he wanted this.  
  
Yuuri had sat up while Wolfram was undressing, pulling his knees to his chest as if to hide himself. As the blond came closer, Yuuri backed a bit until he was in the center of the bed, and swallowed. He laid back down, trying to relax, and stared at the wall.  
  
Within moments, Wolfram was over him, on all fours, and kissing him with a soft, yet fierce devotion. It wasn’t like the few kisses they’d already shared – and yet, at the same time, it was. It was chaste, and reassuring. A reminder.  
  
“This is your last chance to back out,” Wolfram said. “Because I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop.”  
  
Yuuri nodded. “Just do it – I understand.”  
  
There was a hint of hurt and sadness in Wolfram’s face, but Yuuri was facing the wall, and didn’t see the brief flicker.  
  
Wolfram settled himself down along Yuuri’s side and let his breath blow across the dark-haired boy’s neck. Yuuri shivered, gasping as moist lips kissed the skin there. It was…an odd sensation. Not unpleasant, but, at the same time, not overly stimulating either. He tried to imagine himself returning the favor, and frowned. He didn’t think Wolfram would like someone sucking on his neck either. Maybe later he could find out – if they ever did this again.  
  
Wolfram’s mouth was on his collarbone now, and it wasn’t much different. He squirmed, uncertain why it felt like the blonde was trying to eat him.  
  
And then a hand brushed against his nipple, and he gasped. That was…different. It didn’t make him see stars, but it did make it feel like there were tiny threads of electricity connected to where Wolfram had touched him. Like a sparkplug attached to his chest, but not a feeling of pain – _that_ was a feeling he might have liked more of. Although he would have much rather had Wolfram’s mouth on his than slathering on his chest.  
  
Seeing the reaction Yuuri had, Wolfram continued to tease one nipple, while his mouth found the other – getting a much more generous response. Yuuri was beginning to make little sounds of pleasure instead of simply lying there and taking it. Wolfram wasn’t sure if Yuuri realized it or not, but his hands had come up to grab the blonde’s waist, the fingers clenching into his skin when Wolfram bit down – gently – on the hardened nub in his mouth.  
  
Wolfram let his legs rest, and lowered himself completely onto the other boy, his hardness pressing into Yuuri’s thigh as he felt his king’s own pleasure pressing on his side. Yuuri’s hands had slipped to Wolfram’s back, suddenly uncertain, and Wolfram let one hand move down to gently brush the standing manhood.  
  
Yuuri bucked into the hand slightly, his knees bending as he pulled his feet in closer, searching for leverage, and Wolfram let out a soft whine of pleasure as he rose and fell with the movement, one of Yuuri’s legs between his own and his hardness pressed against that straining thigh.  
  
The dark-haired boy look startled for a moment, but didn’t have the time to think before Wolfram repeated his daring brush, causing a similar reaction.  
  
This time Wolfram hissed as the move caused the dry skin of Yuuri's leg to brush across the ache in his groin.  
  
Yuuri’s brow furrowed, and he bit his lip – wanting to ask, but also not quite daring to. Instead he, once again, let his hips thrust upwards, this time without needed a brush from Wolfram’s hand.  
  
The blonde kissed him in return, hand grabbing Yuuri’s manhood firmly and teasing it as he began to move, dry humping the thigh that had begun the action.  
  
A few moments later, Wolfram threw his leg over Yuuri’s other thigh, straddling the dark-haired man, and let his own hardness meet his king’s as he kissed Yuuri deeply.  
  
Yuuri came, not yet realizing what it was that had sent such a large spark through his system and heat in his groin.  
  
Wolfram was able to find his release from watching Yuuri’s short moment of bliss.  
  
The blonde collapsed down on Yuuri’s chest, feeling the residue of their act between them – knowing that soon it wouldn’t be a pleasant reminder, but a cold, sticky mess. He didn’t much care at the moment, but he was watching Yuuri’s face for any sign of what he thought – any sign of regret.  
  
Yuuri was panting, his eyes closed, feeling Wolfram on him and realizing what had caused – was still causing – that heat was the feel of another man’s… _thing_ against his own. It made him slightly nervous…but not sick. He didn’t feel sick. He felt…tired. Relaxed. Maybe even relieved.  
  
“You…you didn’t stick _that_ in _there_ ,” he finally said, remembering their talk from before and wondering why Wolfram had held back when Yuuri’d told him to just get it over with.  
  
The blonde kissed him, smiling. “I don’t think you’re quite ready for that yet,” he said. “Stay here – I’ll get us something to clean up with.”  
  
Yuuri wasn’t sure if he could move even if he wanted to. His breath relaxed into a more even tone, slowing. He felt like he had after his first real game of baseball – tired, sweaty, and dirty, but in a good way, and still with that lingering rush of nerves and…well, excitement.  
  
It was _exciting_ , what they’d done. The forbidden fruit offered on a silver platter. Like winning the game – being sweaty and dirty and tired at the end only gave reason for them to do it again. _This_ was okay – this feeling, he knew it. He understood it.  
  
The morals of his home world could get flushed down a toilet, for all he cared – and _not_ to this world – because that had been _fun_. Awkward, yes, and it made him feel like a silly grade school student again, asking his dad why girls didn’t have parts like boys did. And he still felt nervous.  
  
It was a different nervous, though. Now he wanted to _know_. He hadn’t liked Wolfram running his tongue along his chest, but would the blond like that, if he’d done it? Would he like it if Yuuri tried to play with his nipples?  
  
And then there was… _that_. Yuuri couldn’t imagine touching it with his hands, but…he’d liked it when Wolfram touched his. And really, how different could it be from touching his own – he’d done that often enough. Ok, so it hadn’t been to jerk off or anything, but still…  
  
Wolfram climbed back into the bed, and Yuuri realized that he’d just _laid_ there as the prince had cleaned him off. Smiling, he curled into the other man’s embrace.  
  
Maybe, just maybe, this whole “boy marries boy” thing wasn’t so bad after all.  
  
Of course, he still wasn’t sure about the whole…thing that Wolfram didn’t do. It still didn’t seem like that could be even remotely comfortable.  
  
\-------------------------------------break.  
 _  
“I’m home!”  
  
“Conrad!” Wolfram laughed, running through the halls and down the stairs until he could meet his older brother at the door – he’d been waiting for him on the upper balcony, as usual. The small blond flung himself into the other boy’s arms, smiling widely. “Welcome home, brother!”  
  
“It’s good to see you, Wolfram,” Conrad said with a smile. “Have you been well while I was away?”  
  
Wolfram nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! The lady nurse taught me how to make cookies! Do you wanna try one? I saved some for you!”  
  
Conrad laughed, tightening his hold briefly before letting go. “Of course I’ll have some cookies – just show me the way.”  
  
Wolfram cheered, taking the brown-haired man by the hand and leading him through the palace._  
  
Wolfram blinked himself awake, careful not to stir too much. It’d been a long time since he’d dreamt of his brother – it was odd that it would happen now. He pulled the covers tighter around himself and his king, mindful of the fact that they were both without any other clothing.  
  
Yuuri stirred for only a moment before settling back into a deep sleep. Wolfram kissed his forehead gently before settling back down himself, watching the black-haired man. Yuuri was such a strange being, but Wolfram didn’t regret their engagement. Yes, it was frustrating at times, but he wouldn’t give it up for the world.  
  
He wouldn’t – _couldn’t_ – let Yuuri leave him. Not without trying his hardest to keep the maou at his side.  
  
In the end, it would be worth the fight. Yuuri was precious, and something that could never be replaced if Wolfram lost him.  
  
If Wolfram lost him, the blond wasn’t sure what he’d do. Lock himself up in his room, maybe – or in the dungeons. Let himself drown in the lake. Well, maybe that was a bit extreme. He’d _feel_ dead, though – he knew that.  
  
It was hours later when Wolfram drifted off to sleep again, content as he was to simply lie there and watch his king sleep in peace.


	12. Chapter 12

"We shouldn't be doing this," Wolfram whispered. "It's not safe - especially not alone." They were out in the woods that shielded one side of the village, scouting out the hut that held the children. Yuuri had demanded it - he hadn't even waited for Wolfram to rouse himself before dressing and shaking the blond awake while he went to fetch their breakfast.

This wasn't anything like what Wolfram imagined the morning after to be - granted, they hadn't done anything profound in the ways of the world, but it should have meant _something_.

Unless, just like he had before, Yuuri was pretending it hadn't happened.

"I need to be sure they're all right," Yuuri said, reminding Wolfram of the situation at hand. "I don't like just leaving them there until there's a handy opportunity."

"I know you don't like it, but that doesn't make this safe."

"You're with me, aren't you?"

Wolfram nodded his agreement - he was always with Yuuri, it seemed.

"Well then, don't worry - if something happens, one of us can run for help," Yuuri said with a smile.

"Look, let's just get this over with - the more we sit around here talking, the more likely we are to be found," Wolfram conceded. "I'll go first - stay behind me."

Yuuri gathered up his skirts and let his fiancé pass - this time, he'd rummaged around until he found a skirt that was worn with a set of pants, a simple working outfit that appeared to be left in the trunk from some previous outing, as it was rather worn, and far from the expensive (and rather flashy) dresses that Günter and Conrad had packed for him.

They made to three feet from the tree line before Wolfram made them stop, and helped Yuuri to climb up into the branches, the blond prince following after him shortly. Not long after, the dark-haired boy found out why - one of the raiders was coming their way, a spear held comfortably in one hand and a short sword on his hip.

There was a rustling from behind them - from the side near the village - and Yuuri had to stifle a gasp as one of the soldiers made his way pleasantly to the raider guard. "The brats all there?" he asked.

"Of course," the guard said. "You just do your job and everything _should_ work out fine, unless you've been holding out on us?"

The soldier leaned against the tree. "I've told you all I know - but there is a bit more. Apparently the Royal Pain in the Ass himself decided to come along himself to help out the little monsters - dressed himself up as a girl and everything. Rather cute, with a push-over attitude, but his fiancé's one hell of a bitchy boy. Needs to get laid, and mellow out a bit, if you ask me."

Wolfram winced - he wasn't a cheater, as the soldier was implying he should be. Just because Yuuri was a prude didn't mean that he should go around looking for fulfillment elsewhere.

"Yeah, well, no one did ask you, smart-ass. This put's a hole in the boss' plan, though - he didn't expect no royalty comin' down, much less two of 'em."

A quick glance at Yuuri showed that the boy, while angry, didn't seem to be worried about the previous accusation - had he ignored it, or just not noticed it, Wolfram wondered. Or, like so many other things, was he thinking that it was a way to make everyone happy?

"I'm sure he can handle it - after all, what's a push-over king and his dumb puppy prince going to do against us? We're too close to human territory; they can't do none of their fancy demon magic out here."

For some reason, Yuuri felt like he should have had the urge to sneeze - like always happened in the manga, or the books, or the shows - but he didn't. He really had to pee, but that was beside the point. That, and Wolfram was looking at him with a worried expression - the blond had been unusually quiet since breakfast, hardly even shouting at Yuuri, and, for some reason, that struck Yuuri as rather odd.

Not odd enough to worry over, though - it wasn't any worse than the pink nightgown he'd worn, after all, or those strange boots, or the _panties_. It was probably some strange demon custom for the morning after having relations with someone else - they probably _needed_ a custom for it, after all, since Yuuri didn't know what in the world he was supposed to do.

"Get out of here, before they miss you - a whole of good it'll do if you blow your cover. And keep an eye on those boys. They may seem like nothin', but that don't mean the boss won't want 'em for somethin'."

"Right, right - when death freezes over. The attack's in three days - be ready for it."

That was it - there was nothing else in the way of goodbyes.

Three days - that was when it was planned that they would reveal the raiders and take back the children. That was when they were planning to _save_ the kids - it would be a failure if the enemy knew they were coming.

Yuuri turned hard eyes towards Wolfram, the determination in them undisguised by the contacts.

They were getting those kids out, Yuuri'd decided, and they were doing it _that night_.

-break.

"We should tell the commander about this," Yuuri said, once they were safely back in their room and away from anyone who might overhear.

"No. I knew something was wrong when they all were so accepting of us - none of them put up a fight, which would have been more normal. It's best we go alone. Besides, the fewer there are of us, the easier we'll be able to sneak in and out," Wolfram countered, pacing.

"Wolfram! They can't _all_ be on the bad side! They're Conrad's men! And Al was nice to me!"

Wolfram froze at the familiar tone. "Al?" he asked, voice cold. He knew Yuuri was funny with names, always insisting on the casual first name with nearly everyone he met, but the soldier...his name was Alistair, not Al. Yuuri didn't even have a nickname for Conrad, the one who named him - the one who was closest to him, a position that Wolfram had fought tirelessly for...and not achieved.

"He's the one who helped me put the horse in her stall - he _can't_ be on their side. Wolfram, please, we have to trust _someone_. I don't like doing this alone - something doesn't feel right. And one of Conrad's men betrayed him! I know he's going to feel just awful about that when he finds out."

"And just _what_ is your relationship with this...Al?" Wolfram asked, ignoring the rest with the hope of hearing a denial, but knowing that he wouldn't get one - knowing that Yuuri didn't know just how close he had implied the relationship was. He couldn't help the hurt that had risen when he'd heard the name - the heart-stopping moment when something seemed just wrong. It wasn't that much - not really - and Yuuri always was slightly strange, but after such a rushed morning, for Yuuri to take the side of a stranger over his own fiancé...

He knew he wouldn't get what he was hoping for, but he couldn't help but ask.

"Huh?" Yuuri asked, obviously confused. He stepped closer to the blond, who was facing away from him, just now noticing that the other had stopped pacing. "What do you mean? He just helped me with the horse, and made sure that everything was all right when I went to find you after. He even showed me where to find you and the innkeeper."

"Are you sure he's not your - " Wolfram let a disgusted look cross his face, as if the next word was just that dirty - "boyfriend?" No, Yuuri wouldn't do that - not while he was still engaged to Wolfram. That didn't mean that Yuuri didn't _want_ it to happen, though.

And Yuuri was already closer to this boy than he was with his own fiancé, of course they would eventually start dating - and probably even fall in love. Wolfram could just see the little cottage, with the cute little puppy and Greta and Yuuri smiling down on all of it while he filled out his paperwork away from the castle...

"What? Wolfram, no!" Yuuri very nearly shouted, interrupting the image Wolfram had begun to form. "You know I wouldn't - Wolfram, please!"

"I don't know anything, Yuuri," the blond finally said, his tone weary as his shoulders sagged. "I don't know where you come from, your family, your friends, your likes, or even your favorite _color_. I've tried - really, I have - but you just _won't let me in_. They said it would be like this... I didn't want to believe them... I... didn't think you'd actually want to leave me..."

"Wolfram, what are you talking about?" Yuuri asked - pleaded.

When the prince turned around, Yuuri gasped at the tears in his angry - angry, and very disappointed - eyes.

Something about that image was so very wrong - just like everything else about this conversation was. Wolfram didn't cry - the blond just _didn't cry_. It went against the very laws of his nature.

"My men were right, it seems - you really _don't_ want me, and there's no way I can change that." He ducked his head as he brushed by Yuuri, who simply stood there in shock, unable to believe what he was hearing - was this really _Wolfram_? The same Wolfram who demanded he be kept safe, who followed him around everywhere, who had touched him and kissed him last night with the hope that their marriage would happen? Was this Wolfram who couldn't even _look_ at him anymore the same person?

"I'm sorry for being such a burden," Wolfram said, his voice floating through Yuuri's thoughts as the blond stood at the doorway, once again not looking at his king. "I release you from your bond - I have done you a wrong by seeking to fulfill it. I ask that you stay here tonight - I will see to releasing the children. Now if you'll excuse me, Your Highness, I have work to do."

"Wolfram - " Yuuri started, turning around.

But the green-eyed prince was already gone.

And Yuuri was left alone with the feeling that he had said something horribly, horribly wrong.

\- -break.

_"His fiancé's one hell of a bitchy boy. Needs to get laid, and mellow out a bit, if you ask me."_

Wolfram wasn't a cheater - he wouldn't let himself be a cheater. That didn't mean that he didn't want some attention though; that he didn't want to feel needed and loved.

_"The push-over king and his dumb, puppy prince."_

Was he really just an idiot, blindly following a boy he had grown to love? He hadn't thought so before - had thought that, given enough time, Yuuri would grow to love him.

He hadn't thought himself impossible to love.

_"She is already in a loving, caring relationship?" The commander tried to stifle a laugh behind a cough._

Wolfram hated the questioning tone in his own voice, as he'd stuttered over the words, trying not to summon up his flames and unleash them upon the one who would question his relationship with his king - only he was allowed to do that.

_"Al was nice to me!"_

Wolfram paused in the hallway, taking a deep breath. He'd tried to be prepared for this - had even promised Yuuri that they could break things off if it didn't work out - but he hadn't expected it to be so _hard_.

He hadn't expected to be dumped for someone else, either.

Admittedly, he was letting things blow slightly out of proportion, but even he could only take so much. He'd pushed and pushed and _pushed_ , and now the game was left in Yuuri's hands. If Wolfram was lucky, the dark-haired boy would figure out on his own what had gone wrong, and would later explain things. He may even accept another proposal from Wolfram, if the blond could get up the courage to do so again.

Of course, courage had never really been a problem in the face of rather rash decisions for the demon prince - he had plenty of the latter, many of those decisions ending up making situations difficult, but still...

If he wasn't as lucky, someone else - likely Conrad - would explain it to him, and then, later, the boy would explain, and, if nothing else, they could still be...friends.

If he was unlucky, Yuuri would understand, not explain, and leave him with this...hurt until he was finally able to move on.

Yuuri wasn't like that, he knew - Yuuri would, at the very least, try to explain - but he just hurt so much that it was hard to really expect anything. Even the things that he should expect just from knowing his king.

Wolfram shook himself - this wasn't the time to be wallowing around feeling sorry for himself. He had a job to do, and he'd promised Yuuri that it would be done.

He only had to hope that he didn't get himself killed in the process.


	13. Chapter 13

He was screaming – screaming that this was wrong, that he'd let things blow out of proportion, that it wasn't Yuuri's fault things were _different_ here, and if they'd just sit down and talk about it, everything would be fine.

But that was all on the inside. What his head knew his heart could not hope to understand. He'd expected a certain level of intimacy between himself and his fiancé – whomever that would be – and when Yuuri slapped him, but didn't give him affection, it had hurt. He'd expected to be the first in the heart of whomever he chose to marry, but when Yuuri constantly put others first, that too had hurt.

He'd expected to be closer to Yuuri after being so…familiar with him the night before. It had hurt to be shoved aside for children – hurt even more to be reminded that, while Yuuri was carelessly casual with others, he was still so formal with Wolfram.

His head knew that he had Yuuri's respect and trust, and screamed that it was enough – that he should take his wounded pride and run back to his king, begging forgiveness.

His heart screamed that it was enough – not enough by half – and that, no matter what else, he needed to be loved.

But Wolfram's screams stayed inside him, and as he was stalking through the woods, he tried to push them from his mind. He was looking for danger, for children, for any sign that he might succeed in fulfilling Yuuri's dreams – and maybe, in the process, win the care and affection that had been denied to him, and that so many had claimed impossible – he was _not_ looking for a reason to go running back to the inn with his tail between his legs.

Really, he wasn't.

It might be true that he was impossible to love, but he was trying to change that, not run back and beg for affection.

He didn't hear the man behind him – didn't hear the swing of the weapon – but he felt it as it hit the back of his head.

As the darkness closed around his vision, Wolfram's heart gave out one last scream.

-break.

Something was wrong – Yuuri could _feel_ it, inside him, that other being pushing for power, telling him that something just _wasn't_ right.

And he had a feeling that it was more than just his fiancé running out on him in a confusing jumble of words.

Pulling on his cloak, Yuuri slipped out the door and made his way downstairs – he was going to find out what was wrong.

A half an hour later found him out in the stables and frustrated. No one – not the soldiers, not the inn keeper, not the guests he'd had the courage to ask – had seen his 'husband'. Wolfram had simply…disappeared.

Huffing, Yuuri realized that he must have already gone after the children – he _had_ promised, but the black-haired boy hadn't thought that his fiancé would go out _alone_ to retrieve them, and Wolf was the only one missing.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" he said, to no one in particular.

A flock of birds were startled into flight in the distance – near the cabin in the woods.

Yuuri took off in a dead run, hardly realizing what he was doing until he was ripping his way through branches and bushes, cloak and skirts getting torn by thorns he hadn't the time to avoid.

He hoped he wasn't too late.

-b reak.

"Should we kill 'em?"

"Nah – he'll be worth a pretty penny, if he can be broken decent."

Laughter – voices. Wolfram's head throbbed. Broken?

"Really, though, the kid's demon royalty! Wonder how much the ol' hag would pay to have 'er son back?"

Were they insulting his mother? The scum! He'd have their heads! As soon as his cleared enough to think straight, and his head stopped hurting – and where was his _shirt_ anyways?

"Prolly more than just the kids'll get us."

"Hey, boss, I think he's coming to."

 _No, really?_ Wolfram thought. _I thought 'he' was sleeping._

Someone yanked up on his hair, and Wolfram couldn't help but wince in pain – that _hurt_ – and let out a hiss of breath. If only his head would stop throbbing, he might be able to think better.

He felt a palm strike his cheek, hard – felt the rings of an armored glove dig into his skin – and cried out, trying to open his eyes.

They wouldn't open, and Wolfram realized he was blindfolded.

Chuckles. "Hey there, princess." The voice was deep, and rough – an older human, then. Middle-aged. Probably didn't even realize that Wolfram was older than him – possibly even twice his age. "Have a good nap?"

Wolfram didn't answer, just tried to breath through the pain of his hair being pulled and the slap across his face.

There was a kick to his shins. "I asked you a question, blondie – I expect an answer."

"Where a-am I?" Wolfram asked, curling his legs closer to him – the less was open, the less they could _hit_.

Another chuckle – this time with breath across his ear. "Somewhere where you can put that mouth of yours to good use."

Wolfram tried to push away – but his hands were tied. His feet were dragging together – that meant his ankles and wrists were both tied. They weren't taking any chances.

He shivered, unused to being without a shirt this late in the season. He specialty was fire, and he liked being warm – autumn was coming closer and closer, he could already feel it – he didn't _like_ not having a shirt.

Someone shoved large, bulky fingers in his mouth, and Wolfram bit down.

"Ow! God-damn that little shit!"

There was a slap across his face again, the sharp metal biting into his cheek. "Try that again, demon, and we'll see how well you fair without a few fingers yourself."

Wolfram was certain he felt a few hairs rip. His head was throbbing.

The fingers were back, probing his mouth, pulling back his gums. "Not that we expected any less of royalty, but he's got 'em all – all nice and straight and white, too. Nice tongue, too, if you can get him to use it _proper_."

"Hear that boy?" the first voice asked, shaking the hand that held his hair. "You're a prime sell for a brothel, once we head out that way – either that or the first good price to try and sell ya back to the demon country. Your momma already did all the shinin' for us – we just collect on the _cash_. I'd ask if you'd prefer ta be a hostage or a whore, but I'm afraid we won't be liking your answer too much – so we'll decide for ya." He was laughing.

Wolfram was never more grateful for the darkness – the temporary relief from the pain.

-b reak.

There it was – the cabin. Yuuri only paused for a moment, considering if he should have brought help, when he heard Wolfram cry out.

Once again he was moving before he'd fully considered the situation – the others would follow, he told himself; they'd notice.

There was shock on both sides when Yuuri slammed open the door. Six sets of eyes focused on the king – all of them raiders, not a child in the room – shocked at the audacity of the boy to simply burst into the room without warning, and possibly wondering just how he'd made it that far.

Yuuri's shock was different – his shock was over the shirtless body of his fiancé – no, husband. His _husband_. It wasn't fair – Wolfram had only been trying to help him, he didn't deserve to be lying there, face bloody with cuts, bruises on his chest, his body limp and unconscious, head held up by his _hair_ by a thick, calloused hand…

Yuuri was angry, angry enough to feel his control slipping. He wanted to _hurt_ them; he wanted to make them pay.

The human holding Wolfram didn't seem to notice; if he did notice, he didn't care. Showing off a smile that pulled at a scar across his cheek and displayed rotting, yellowed teeth, he let go of the blonde strands he held, and Wolfram's head fell to the floor with a dull thud. "Well, if it isn't the princess's little princess wife, come to save him," he joked.

"How dare you…" Yuuri's voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Heck, with the two of you we won't even need the brats! I'm sure we could get a better price for a pair of royals than a bunch of stinkin' half-breeds. Let the little buggers starve while we deliver you to someone who'd pay big."

" _How dare you_ …"

One man attempted to run, but the back door locked itself before he got there, and pulling the handle, no matter how strong he was, didn't help. He turned to face the glowing presence that was the demon king, and felt his legs give.

Three others were backing up, but hadn't attempted to escape. Their hands were on their weapons, but their faces were uncertain. Another had his sword out, a grin on his face and eager for a fight.

And then there was the last – the leader, Yuuri assumed – who was approaching him with an arrogance unsuited to his large size and bulky frame. He looked like a football player with short-cropped, messy brown hair and blue eyes that said he didn't care if he got hurt – and had the scars to prove it.

There was no way he could _not_ notice that Yuuri was angry, but his cocky stance said clearly: 'it's not my concern.' There was no way he could not have noticed that Yuuri's clothes were blowing in a wind that wasn't there, and that there was a light that seemed to originate from his body, putting his power on display – but he was very clearly also ignoring these facts, or considered them unimportant. "Fetch some more ropes," the man called out over his shoulder. "We shouldn't be so callous as to look a gift horse in the mouth."

Grips on weapons tightened, the bare sword rose higher, and the man by the door whimpered, a wet stain spreading across the front of his pants, but no one moved to obey.

Yuuri's hand slowly reached up and grabbed the human's neck, the coarse hair of the short beard scratching his hand annoyingly. The touch was soft, almost gentle – but a threat, nonetheless.

Blue eyes stared into the cat-like, pure black gaze, and fought against a brief rising of well-warranted panic, before the man laughed. "Your demon magic doesn't work here, weak-" his words were cut off by his coughing, choking attempt to breathe as Yuuri's hand tightened, and he _lifted_.

Yuuri felt the muscles in his arm bulge, and the bone strain to hold the weight. His arm was weak, not made to lift a two-hundred pound – or more – man.

The Maou ignored this, letting his magic reinforce the arm of his body, trusting it to care for his needs.

"It is not in my nature to kill, but the damage to my husband is unforgivable."

He shoved with the single arm, and Yuuri watched the body fly through the air and land on the table, the legs collapsing under the weight and the tabletop splitting in half, the man falling down among shards and splinters of wood.

One of the other humans – the one eager for a fight – attacked, but with a brush of Yuuri's hand was thrown against the wall in a strong wind that seemed to start and end with the will of the glowing demon.

Someone dropped their weapon, backing away. The Maou paid him no mind.

"You who take children, without a thought to their futures." The building was shaking, the wood creaking, the table pieces and chairs wobbling on the floor as if the earth itself was trembling. "You who hurt, humiliate, and capture without concern – you have no right to be in this world."

There was a flash of light that seemed to originate from nowhere and everywhere at once, and when it was gone the raider was gone as well. Chairs and planks and shattered wood had fused around the ankles of the others, locking their feet to the floor – trapping their hands in places. One man fell to the ground, crying out and whimpering when he felt his wrist snap, the wood unwilling to give.

Yuuri's body was moving again, but this time it was toward the blonde that was curled up on the floor, still slumped in the same position he had been in when the mess had started. A touch of the Maou's hand – a spark of his power – and the ropes were untying themselves, the blindfold sliding to the floor, and Yuuri felt the Maou give a rare smile. "Wake up, our Husband." It was his voice, but the Maou's words – his hand, but the Maou's touch – and yet it was his own.

If there was one thing both Yuuri and the Maou inside him agreed on, it was that they didn't want to see Wolfram hurt. Titles, formalities, and the messy business of what went where could be decided later, so long as Wolfram was all right.

Yuuri didn't see the children, but when green eyes blinked open, he felt relief wash over him. Wolfram's mouth was moving, but he couldn't hear the words – he was slipping back into that place where he was aware of his body, and what it was doing, and the shock of the change slammed his mind into darkness.


	14. Chapter 14

Panic had been the first thing Wolfram felt when he woke and saw Yuuri hovering over him. He'd worried that the other boy was hurt first, and then that he'd been captured – all in the brief second before Yuuri's body collapsed on his own.

He didn't remember shouting, but that must have been what drew the attention of the children away from the cellar door; he did remember hearing a baby cry – woken from his nap, Wolf later found out – and the tentative padding of bare feet on a creaky wood floor, but after that, nothing. With their attackers immobilized, the children had been more than eager to run home to their parents – and send the soldiers back after those that had been left, good and bad alike.

He remembered briefly shouted orders and heavy footfalls, the sounds of a saw cutting through wood as the raiders were roughly rounded up, and a soft fall of brown hair around a worried and young face. He had only a moment to wonder if his brother had recruited the boy out of the cradle before his eyes closed again – and opened with him someplace else.

Wolfram didn't care much about the whole ordeal now; he was just worried over Yuuri. Yes, his head still throbbed, and he was still slightly embarrassed at the way they had been found, and he was certain he had a bruise on his leg, and he hadn't really had a chance to find a decent shirt yet, but that all took second place to pacing beside Yuuri's bed and waiting for him to wake up.

A groan distracted him from his worried movement, and he was at the bedside in an instant. "Yuuri?"

"Nnng," was the response. "Wolf? My head hurts…"

"Here," Wolf said, holding a glass of water to Yuuri's lips and tilting the other boy's head up enough to drink. "You'll feel better."

Yuuri took a small sip and then sat up, taking the glass into his own hands. "Thank you," he said.

" _What were you thinking?"_ Wolfram suddenly shouted, turning to pace again. "I heard most of what happened from the soldiers and what the raiders admitted to – you only searched for a _half an hour?_ What if I was out getting supplies and you _didn't think to ask?_ Did you even look around town, or did you just look here? How could you just run into danger like that? _What if something had happened to you?"_

"I'm sorry, Wolfram, but I had to."

"You had to go running into danger, _alone_ , just because you thought I was in danger?" Wolfram was facing him again, and the blonde was angry – very angry. Eyes that should have been the soft, gentle color of fresh spring grass sparked and flamed like an enraged green fire. He was frowning, though thankfully his sword wasn't on his belt – where his hand was, grasping air. His voice was loud, and harsh – demanding.

And then Yuuri just smiled, and started laughing.

The blonde blinked in surprise, part of his earlier anger disappearing for a moment in the face of that smile, and then it returned. "You think it's _funny_ that you almost got killed?"

"Sorry, sorry!" Yuuri stammered, trying to hold in the last of his laughs. "It's just…I'm relieved. You're you again."

"Huh?" Wolfram blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, ever since you saw me in that stupid dress the first day, you've been acting different. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't…you."

"I have _not_ been acting different. You have."

Yuuri sighed. "I guess I have, too. Still, it's nice to see you're back to normal, even if you are yelling at me again."

"You wimp."

"I am _not_ a wimp."

"You are – you're my-" Wolfram cut himself off, looking away. "Sorry. I'll go now. We'll need to pack and leave before they start to worry back at the palace."

"But…they aren't expecting us to leave here for another two more days at least, right?"

"I just…" Wolfram didn't finish his sentence. He wanted to say that he wanted to still be Yuuri's fiancé; he wanted to say that he wished things would go back to the way they were before this mess started – although he wouldn't mind Yuuri wearing a few of the dresses on occasion, since they _were_ cute. He wanted to say it – but he didn't.

"We can still stay here for a few more days, right?"

Wolfram hesitated a moment, and then nodded. "The people know who you are now, but it shouldn't be a problem, since you rescued the children, the rest of their crops, and captured the raiders. They might even welcome the extra revenue, to help make up for what was destroyed… but I'm not sure that you're safe here. You just ran into danger without anyone questioning you – and the soldiers _knew_ who you were. And one of them was even working for the other side…"

Yuuri stood, stretching. "Not all of them are bad just because one was," Yuuri said. "You need to have more faith in people, Wolfram. You need to trust someone."

Green eyes shifted away, and Wolfram didn't say anything in reply – there was nothing to say, really. The last time he had trusted someone completely was when he was younger, and he had put his full faith into Weller, and…well, it turned out that his brother had been half-human. To a young demon proud of his blood, that had come as quite a blow. Maybe not so much that he was half-human as the fact that he didn't trust his younger brother with the secret – that Weller didn't trust Wolfram the same way that Wolfram trusted Weller.

And Weller's men had betrayed both Yuuri and Wolfram – and he knew that Weller would punish the traitor severely. It wasn't likely that the man would live very long, given the fact that the seemingly gentle prince was very loyal – and equally unforgiving of betrayal. It was enough to make Wolfram want to curse his brother up and down for letting such slime into his ranks – and enough to make him want to thank him, for taking care of the problem as was right. It was…confusing. Almost as confusing as Yuuri.

"As for running after you – well, I had to."

Wolfram glared at the dark-haired boy, both for interrupting his thoughts and for the seemingly careless remark, and Yuuri shrugged. "Something told me that you were in big trouble, and that's where you were. I had to save you. I don't really understand all the customs, and what you said before you left didn't make much sense – but you're still my fi-fiancé, and that means that I need to…help you when you need it."

"I didn't need help."

It was Yuuri's turn to glare. "They had you tied up, half undressed, and unconscious. What was I _supposed_ to think?"

Wolfram blushed slightly, looking away. "I could have handled it eventually."

"How?"

"I would have found a way."

"Well, you didn't have to. Now why don't you send for food and help me get dressed so that we can have a _proper_ vacation….er…as proper a one as we can have, since all I have to wear are dresses."

Wolfram smiled – then bowed. "As you wish, my king."

"Yuuri."

"Husband."

Yuuri pouted.

Wolfram took the chance to close the distance between them and kiss the pouting lips.

"You are still my future husband."

Yuuri pouted again, but couldn't quite hide the upward tilt of his mouth as Wolfram beamed at him. If it made the blonde that happy – then husband it was.

When Wolfram kissed him again, Yuuri didn't feel like he should be sick – it made Wolfram happy, and no one else condemned it here. Those raiders, they'd almost taken this from him, almost taken from him the chance to feel those butterflies in his stomach and the nervous giggles that bubbled in his chest. It was enough to make Yuuri want to kiss back, to take as much of Wolfram in as he could, because he might not feel it again.

So he did.

Besides, anything that made him anticipate more the way Wolfram's kisses did couldn't be bad. He wasn't sure what more there would be, but he knew he want to try it someday.

When Yuuri pulled away blushing, Wolfram didn't have to wonder if Al's – or Roy's, or Conrad's, or anyone else's – kisses were better than his. Yuuri was with him, and happy, and so very, very _shy_. It was all right if he pulled away blushing, just so long as Wolfram was allowed to continue.

-break.

The town held a wonderful feast that night – and if they were a bit more generous with the water than the wine, and the gruel than the meat, well – no one really complained. Not when there was music and dancing and a giant bonfire in the middle of the town square.

Yuuri laughed as yet another one of the men from the village spun him around in the dance. He had never been that great of a dancer, but had found it quite simple to let the other men lead (he was in a dress, after all) and simply let himself be pulled along. He didn't need to know much about the dance when his partner already did – and it wasn't that hard to avoid stepping on his feet when he wasn't the one leading.

As with all the other dances, the song eventually came to a close. The dark-haired demon king was only glad that this partner hadn't required a lot of conversation – it wasn't often that he could simply enjoy himself, and there were already a lot of things to focus on while dancing.

"Would you care for a dance, milord?" Another voice asked, behind him.

Yuuri turned, and faced the soldier. "Al!" he greeted. "Finally finished dancing with the red-head?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Her father decided that maybe she should have a break before I danced her feet off."

"Well go get her a drink, then, before someone else snatches her away! I bet she's waiting for you."

Al blinked, confused. "Get her a drink?"

Yuuri tilted his head to the side. "Isn't that what you're supposed to do?" he asked. "Where I come from, when a girl wants to sit down, she's either bored with you, or she wants you to fetch drinks so that you can talk together. I've never been able to tell the difference, but it can't _hurt_ to go and get her a drink, can it?"

"I guess so – but what about you?"

Yuuri smiled. "I think I have a fiancé who's sulked in the back long enough."

"Shall I escort you?"

The maou shook his head. "I'm sure I'll be fine – besides, I don't think he likes you much."

The brown-haired soldier let out a sigh. "It's because we're Conrad's men, I'd bet. Your majesty, may I ask a favor?"

"What is it?"

"One of these days, would you convince Prince Wolfram to forgive his brother? The state they're in now – it's tearing them both up."

Yuuri smiled. "I'll do my best. Besides – they're brothers. Brothers always feud. Wolfram and Conrad…have just been feuding for a few decades. Or more." A nervous laugh escaped him. "Maybe I should just go see how he's doing."

Al nodded, and smiled in return. "I thank you, your majesty," he said with a small bow. "I think I'll just go see how Grace is doing."

Yuuri nodded, watching the brown-haired man disappear into the crowd before scanning the masses for a shock of blonde hair and angry green eyes – because there was no doubt in his mind that Wolfram would be angry for waiting _this_ long for a single dance with his fiancé.

It wasn't like Yuuri had meant to abandon him – it'd just sort of…happened.

Two songs had passed – and he'd had to decline several dance offers during his search – before he found the blonde sitting alone, facing the woods, with a glass of watered-down wine in his hands.

"Mind if I join you?"

Wolfram shrugged.

Yuuri sat down on the ground next to Wolfram, leaning against the nearest building. "The stars are so bright out tonight."

Wolfram glanced upwards briefly. "No more than any other night."

"You can never see the stars in my world."

Wolfram started. "Can't see the stars? Whyever not?"

Yuuri shrugged. "Too many lights – too many buildings – too much pollution in the air. My world's not like yours – yes, we have things like baseball and soda and cars that go really fast, even computers and televisions – but we don't have magic, or dragons, or even a clear view of the stars." He suddenly laughed. "You know, it's almost worth being sucked down a toilet to see these stars."

There was a brief pause. "Am I worth it?" Wolfram suddenly asked, looking out into the woods again. "Was it worth this 'sucked down a toilet' thing to be with me?"

"Well, given the option, I would have preferred something else – it's actually a somewhat nasty method of travel, not to mention embarrassing," Yuuri said. "But…I don't know what I would be doing now if I hadn't come here," he admitted. "I never expected to get engaged to another boy, much less you. I never wanted to be king, to receive strange powers, or pass out when justice had to be done so that this other being inside me could…do things. Now, though… if none of that had happened, I wouldn't be me. I wouldn't even think of loving another boy."

There was a moment of silence – brief, but still seeming so long – before Yuuri whispered: "And I wouldn't have you to look forward to."

"So I'm worth it, then?" Wolfram asked.

"Quite possibly."

"Wimp. I am worth it – which means _you_ need to start calling me something different."

"What?"

"I am rather fond of 'Wolf', but I wouldn't mind 'sweetie' or 'lover,' either."

" _Wolfram!_ " Yuuri nearly shouted, his face red.

The blonde laughed.

After slapping the demon prince on the shoulder, Yuuri couldn't help but give in to his own urge to laugh as well.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mature content is contained in this chapter.

It was their last day in the town. Wolfram had allowed them to stay a week, before saying that it was absolutely necessary that they leave. Of course, everyone understood. Even though the Maou was generous with gold, there was still work to be done to help repair the damage that had been done, and demon royalty so close to the border would all but invite in more trouble.

Yuuri understood more than anyone else – Wolfram was homesick.

They had visited all the families, gone to the temples of distant gods, followed up on a rumor about a fountain of grace, and spent time each night simply kissing or exploring each other.

But tonight, Yuuri wanted something different.

"Let's do… _that_ ," he said, suddenly, looking up at Wolfram.

Green eyes blinked. "Do what?"

"You know – _that_. S-se. _That_ in _there_."

Wolfram chuckled. "That could be taken many different ways."

Yuuri frowned. "Fine. S-se-se-ex. Sex. Let's do _that_."

"Yuuri…are you sure?"

The dark head nodded – once. "It's our last night here, and I want to remember it. Promise to make it…good?"

"It will be better than _good_ ," Wolfram answered. He kissed Yuuri on the nose. "Let's get you undressed," he said – this time, he didn't give the other boy a chance to back out, simply turned him around and started untying the laces to the dress he wore. Yuuri slipped off the gloves, and then Wolfram's arms were rising over his shoulders, slipping the sleeves off, and the dress was falling to his elbows.

Yuuri's hands rose to meet Wolfram's, catching the dress sleeves. The bodice caught at his hips, though he felt cool air meet the small of his back, where the laces now left an opening.

Wolfram closed the space between them, pressing his front to the exposed back and hugging Yuuri tightly from behind. "You can do this," he whispered. "Just relax."

"Will it hurt?"

"Some – but I promise I'll make it worth it. Worth falling in a toilet for."

It had the desired effect – Yuuri laughed, and nodded; Wolfram had not asked him a question, but the permission from the simple act seemed to relax the air around them almost as much as the laughter.

Wolfram knelt down, and removed Yuuri's boots, then pulled the dress over the other boy's head.

Yuuri sat down on the bed to remove his socks as the blonde took off his own boots – and pants, shirt – finally underwear.

Yuuri stood and removed his, still hesitant, but the familiar movement wasn't awkward. After all, Wolfram had seen him before – touched him – touched him with his own.

They started with kisses – gentle, familiar kisses that sent sparks down Yuuri's spine. He saw it now, why others liked it. Wolfram was kissing him because he _wanted_ to, and that's what made it special. That Wolfram wanted to, and could, and wanted to show Yuuri just how much he cared – and just how much he wanted to go further. That's what made it more than slobbering down his neck, or tickling across his chest. It was a show of affection.

And now Yuuri was able to return the action without feeling like a complete idiot – without feeling like he was doing something completely stupid and worthless – and eagerly did so. Because he cared for Wolfram – and he didn't want to lose him.

Perhaps a bit too eagerly, he thought, and started to back off. After all, even if it was a show of affection, and showed how much he cared and wanted, it was _still_ a bit odd, and still left butterflies in his stomach, and still left behind wet red marks on the other's skin – bruises, if he wasn't careful. And those were obvious, too – a marking that was a bit like claiming, and a bit like stating to the world: _'Hey, look, I'm having sex with someone!'_

…Not that he'd thought that much about it.

Yuuri almost giggled at Wolfram's touch down his side. He bit his lip to hold it in, but that light stroking _tickled_ , and he hadn't been tickled there since he was seven, and rough housing with his brother on the living room floor.

And that _so_ wasn't an image he wanted to be having during his first – _gulp_ – intercourse with Wolfram.

The touch stopped at his hip, and Wolfram's teeth tugged at his ear. "Relax," the blonde repeated. "I promise, it's not as bad as you think."

Yuuri nodded, and pressed a kiss to the other's cheek. "Do it," he urged.

And then Wolfram touched him. _There_. He wasn't going any further than what they had done before – not yet, anyways – and it felt good, just like it had that first time, which seemed so very long ago, now. Had it really been less than a week since he had felt this touch? It felt so different – so much better – without the worry of whether it was wrong or right. His body and mind alike remembered that this touch – it felt good, and nothing that felt so good could ever be bad.

Wolfram's touch left him to trace down his inner thighs and spread his knees. The blonde was kneeling on the bed, observing and caressing instead of the cuddling, close, kissing being he had been the last time they had gone so far. He seemed slightly more distant – and yet, at the same time, that much closer.

Suddenly, Wolfram was leaning over the bed and reaching for something underneath. Yuuri blinked, confused, although he knew Wolfram wouldn't have left – he could feel the other over one of his legs, anyways – and relatively sure that he wasn't retching up dinner.

"Wolfram?" he asked. The blonde lifted himself back up onto the bed with what looked like a canteen. "What's that?"

"Oil," Wolfram answered. " _This_ is what keeps it from hurting so much. Well, sometimes you don't need it, but I just want to be sure I don't hurt you, so I made sure we were prepared."

"You planned this!" Yuuri half-asked, half-accused.

Wolfram shook his head, and then leaned down to kiss Yuuri lightly on the lips. "I didn't plan – I hoped. Now are we going to do this, or are you going to be an absolute wimp again, and leave me like this?" He gestured downward.

Yuuri gulped as he saw Wolfram's groin – bare and standing – and wondered once more just how it was going to fit. Wolfram wasn't large, but he wasn't exactly _small_ , either, and from what Yuuri judged of his own lower anatomy, it'd take something much smaller to actually fit.

"Are you sure people actually do this?" he asked, concern in his voice.

Wolfram nuzzled his neck – actually nuzzled him! – before whispering in his ear, "Absolutely," and uncorking the canteen.

Sitting back, he pulled one of Yuuri's hands with him, and poured a generous amount of oil into Yuuri's hand. Using his own hands, Wolfram rubbed his with Yuuri's to warm it. "Now," Wolfram said, "you get to touch _me_."

Yuuri licked his lips – which were, for some reason, unusually dry – and grabbed Wolfram's shoulder with his clean hand to help himself sit up. Brow furrowed in concentration, the dark-haired boy tentatively lowered his hand, and ran one finger along the length of Wolfram's manhood.

The older demon shuddered slightly, his breath hitching, but let Yuuri do his own, slow explorations.

After a few more touches, Yuuri was finally convinced that, though the hunk of flesh moved with Wolfram, and seemed hot to the touch, and was slightly bigger than his own (though he wasn't small at all – he had grown in the past year, he was sure!), Wolfram's p-penis (there! He'd said it!) wasn't going to bite him.

He didn't think so, anyways.

So his touches became a bit bolder, until he was able to wrap his whole hand around the standing member and stroke it – always careful not to grip too tightly, because that would _hurt_ , and, if nothing else, Yuuri knew how much a man's jewels meant to him (well, that and Wolfram had a mean right hook).

He stopped when Wolfram wrapped a hand around his wrist, stilling him, and took in several ragged breaths – he hadn't even realized how much the other's breathing had sped up until then, he'd been so focused on the flesh between his legs. He hadn't even realized that _he_ was still hard – although his body sent a strong ache through his bones to remind him of that fact once he wasn't so focused on the other boy.

Wolfram gave Yuuri another kiss, and pushed him back down. "That's enough," he said, in answer to the confused look. "Otherwise I won't be able to continue."

Yuuri nodded, though he didn't quite understand.

Unless – his mouth felt as dry as cotton as Wolfram covered his own hand with the oil, and Yuuri realized _why_ the blonde wouldn't want to find release just yet.

He hadn't been thinking of that part. That part was really important though – that was the whole reason for the oil.

Yuuri gulped again. "Wo-wolfram? I'm scared," he finally admitted.

"I know." Green eyes gazed at him, and Yuuri was certain that, along with determination and concern – he also saw…love. He hoped he saw love, he wasn't certain he would live if he didn't. "You said before that I needed to trust someone, right?" Dark hair shuffled against the pillow as Yuuri nodded. "Well then; trust me."

And then Wolfram was kissing him – on the chin, on the neck, on the chest, it was like he was everywhere at once. That hand was tickling his side again, and his mouth was going between kissing and teasing the sensitive flesh of his nipples. Yuuri found himself unsure of what to do with his hands – fist them in the sheets, or in that bright, golden, sunshine hair? Would Wolfram object if he touched that pale flesh, usually hidden from the harsh sun and prying eyes by that blue uniform?

And where was Wolfram's other hand?

Just when he thought about it was when he felt it – there was something _inside_ him. Yuuri tensed.

And Wolfram stilled, his voice shifting to make soothing purrs instead of teasing licks, his free hand changing from light tickling to strong, relaxing circles, and a quiet, gentle whisper; "Relax…"

Yuuri's breath hitched.

"It's all right. It's been in there for a while. I made it up to two fingers while you were distracted, it felt that good. Shhh… easy now. Just relax, and _feel_. It feels good if you let it. Trust me…" Yuuri wasn't sure if Wolfram was repeating that over and over or if it only sounded that way to him, but the gentle, soothing purr of his voice and the stillness of his body gradually let him relax around the intrusion.

Wolfram chuckled. "You know, when you slapped me back then, I actually thought this would be the easy part."

Yuuri huffed, and nearly slapped him again, but didn't get a chance to as the blonde leaned down and kissed his pouting lips, and began moving his fingers again. He wasn't doing anything else, just letting his fiancé – his _king_ – feel the difference. Feel the breach.

Relax around it. Enjoy it.

And Yuuri did. It wasn't so much that he enjoyed it – but it wasn't _un_ comfortable, and there was a certain excitement to the fact that Wolfram had his hands in his – well, it was his _ass_. There was really no other way to say it – a guy had his _fingers_ in his _ass_ , and Yuuri didn't _dislike_ it, and was actually – in a way – _liking_ it.

And then Wolfram's fingers twisted – and Yuuri gasped as his body was suddenly set on fire – starting from that place inside him.

And it felt _good_.

No, better than good.

Yuuri was panting on the bed, and it took him a few moments to realize that Wolfram had stilled, watching him with a look that screamed both "I told you so," and "I'm so pleased with myself right now."

And Yuuri wasn't about to argue.

He didn't really have the breath for much at the moment anyways. Mewing lightly – making Wolfram _laugh_ , of all things – he bucked his hips softly, trying to make those fingers meet _that_ place again.

And Wolfram obliged.

The blonde kissed Yuuri's open mouth as the Maou panted – so very, very close to the edge, but pulled away by the very boy that had brought him there. The oil was starting to get a bit sticky on his hand – where his hand was in the sheet, and had been smeared across Wolfram's shoulder – when had that happened?

Wolfram took the canteen from where it had tipped in the bed, and covered himself in a layer of still-wet slime. He then leaned forward and kissed Yuuri one last time before asking: "Are you ready?"

Yuuri couldn't do much else besides nod.

He stared at the ceiling as he felt the demon prince rearrange his legs, spreading them farther. He panted, feeling slightly detached as he tried to ignore the burning in his own groin. He _wanted_ – he wanted…he _needed_ something. Something to take the edge off – to keep him grounded through this.

Because there was no doubt in his mind that this would be the painful part.

Yuuri shook the feeling off. He didn't want that, because that felt too much like is other self – like the Maou that always delivered justice. It was like he wasn't quite in control of his own body.

And that was the last thing he wanted now. Right now, he wanted to be with Wolfram, pain or no.

And there was pain – but…not as much as he had thought there would be. Mostly he just felt…full, and he said so.

Wolfram laughed at him. "Of course you're full – I'm in there. You know, I don't think I'd ever have imagined laughing so much during _this_. It always seems so serious."

Yuuri wrinkled his nose. "And sweaty. And sticky."

"Definitely those," Wolfram smiled, "and we're not even finished yet."

"Well, at least laughing is a good thing, right?"

Wolfram leaned down and kissed Yuuri on the nose – he wouldn't admit that half those laughs were because of nerves, both his own and the black-haired boy's. He didn't admit that he thought he was going to have a nervous breakdown if Yuuri didn't like this, that he might run off and cry himself into his own grave if Yuuri refused to spend another night with him.

He just _moved_.

It wasn't long before he found his release. The tension of the night, the stress of showing Yuuri how good being with another man could be, the worry from the entire past few weeks, the fretting over what was to come – all built up inside him with the pleasure of kisses and touches and virgin explorations, with the added pressure of that tight heat that was so much more than any female's, though it took a bit more care and a bit more effort – and it all flowed out much too soon to make the act last long.

Yuuri followed not long after. He wasn't sure what it was; whether it was that spot inside him, _Wolfram_ inside him, Wolfram touching him, or all those fluttering wings inside his chest – something in him snapped, and he came.

And something _else_ in him – that sounded suspiciously like the Maou, though it might have been his conscious – said "This is Right." Said it loud enough that he could _hear_ the capitals.

He was a sticky mess when Wolfram pulled away, and sleepy as the blonde dressed him in a nightgown, dressed in some nightpants and called for a maid.

He was _more_ than embarrassed when she changed the sheets on the bed, and left with a knowing wink, but he wasn't about to _sleep_ on sheets that were covered in oil and…other things. Besides, they'd be leaving in the morning.

And maybe the news wouldn't reach the soldiers by then. He hoped.

Well – sleep was more important at the moment anyways. And if Wolfram sprawled all over the bed until he had Yuuri comfortably snuggled into his chest and his arms wrapped bear-trap tight around his king, well…Yuuri didn't mind.

Not really, anyways.


	16. Side Story

"Your highness, is it true that your wedding plans are moving forward?" asked a noble that Yuuri couldn't remember the name of; the man was wearing a lot of fur, and seemed to be eating his way through most of the meat that had been laid out. This was supposed to be a close, family-style dinner, but the only person Yuuri knew of those present was Gwendel. Wolfram had gone off to see about the gardens for the 'big day' to happen at - which was the point of most of their trips since they had last gone off to save the children at the border - and Conrad had gone with him to offer opinions and a bit of protection.  
  
Leaving Yuuri with a lot of nobles he didn't know, in a castle he kept getting lost in.  
  
"I guess so," Yuuri offered, wondering what difference it made, but more worried about what they were eating that he couldn't name.  
  
"That's wonderful! You must, of course, have a hunt during your bachelor party - a last night of freedom! If your highness would host your party at our home, we could, of course, provide plenty of entertainment for you."  
  
"Entertainment?" Yuuri asked, confused. "You mean, like, performers and games?" Yuuri's mind conjured up images of festivals and fairs - and amusement parks. "Rides?"  
  
"Something like that, yes," the noble answered, winking.  
  
Yuuri frowned. "I don't know. Wolfram's planning pretty much everything; you should ask him about anything like that."  
  
Gwendel's eyebrow twitched, the older man having picked up on the undercurrents Yuuri had, obviously, been oblivious to. One of the - princes? - on the other side of the table choked on his potatoes.  
  
"Your majesty," one of the other young nobles spoke up, "I'm not sure that it would be appropriate for your future spose to plan such an event."  
  
"Why not?" Yuuri asked.  
  
The red-haired girl to Yuuri's right blushed. "Your majesty, the activities that occur at such parties are usually frowned upon by your spouse to be."  
  
"Wolfram frowns on a lot of things," Yuuri answered. "But that doesn't give me permission ot go behind his back to do them anyways."  
  
"If you'll pardon me, Yuuri, I don't believe this to be an appropriate subject for dinner conversation," Gwendel interrupted, his fingers tight on his fork and a heavy frown between his eyebrows. "Perhaps this evening, after you have retired for the night, you could discuss your options with my brother."  
  
Yuuri shrugged. "It's probably best that he plan everything anyways, since the customs here are so different from what I'm used to."  
  
"Yes - I've heard that you started a baseball team near Blood Pledge Palace," the red-head perked up, eagerly taking the change in subject. "Please, what is this 'baseball'?"  
  
Baseball was a topic Yuuri was more than willing to discuss.


End file.
